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AUTHOR: 


CAPPS, EDWARD 


TITLE: 


THE STAGE IN THE 
GREEK THEATRE... 


PLACE: 


Me NEW HAVEN 


DATE: 


1891 


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| 880129 | | 
[017 Capps, Edward, 1866. 1950. | 
| The stage in the Creek theatre according to tho} 
extant dramas; inaugural dissertation presented. .e! 
by Edward Capps. New Haven, 1891. 
80 pe 25 Clie 


Thesis (PhD), Yale University, 1891. 
Extracted from the Transactions of the American 
philological association, v.22,1891. | 


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ACCORDING TO THE 


EXTANT DRAMAS 


Inaugural Dissertation 


PRESENTED TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY OF YALE UNIVERSITY | 


FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 


EDWARD CAPPS 


NEW HAVEN, JUNE, 189! 


Extracted from the Transactions of the American Philological 
Association, Vol. ΧΧΙΙ, 1891. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


Introduction . . : : ° ‘ ‘ 
I, Evidence against an Elevated Stage . , 
A. Inter-action between Actors and Chorus . 
Passing from palace to orchestra 
Passing from orchestra to palace 
Chorus and actors depart together 
Chorus and actors enter together 
Chariot scenes ; 
Assembly scenes. ; 
7. Search scenes . ‘ ‘ 
8. Altar scenes . : ᾿ , ‘ ; Ξ 
9. Chorus called to the palace, and minor instances —a refutation 
of A. Miiller’s argument, based on the non-performance of 
certain proposed movements of the chorus, that the action 


{οὐ 9 
** stage . 


was prevented by the difficulty of mounting the 
10. Encounters between actors and chorus . : 
Results of Preceding Arguments . ; Ξ 
Table of the Instances of Inter-action between Actors and Chorus 
B. General Relation of Chorus to Actors. , : 
C. Numbers often brought upon the “Stage” : : 
D. Character of the Scenic Setting in Certain Plays 


E. Street Scenes in Aristophanes ; : : 


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II. Consideration of the Evidence adduced in Favor of an Elevated Stage 64-77 


1. Indications of a change of level when there is passing between 
stage and orchestra; dva- and κατα-βαίνειν , : ; : 

‘2, Expressions which are explained by the supposition of a difference 
of level between “stage” and orchestra. : : : 


} : : 
~ 3. Scenes whose presentation required an elevation; use of roof of 


proscenium . : ‘ ; . . . 


Conclusion . ; : ; : : : : : 


It has long been an accepted principle! in the study of 


scenic antiquities that the evidence derived from the ex- 
tant plays outweighs in value that from all our other 


sources —the existing theatre ruins, Vitruvius, Pollux, and 
the scholiasts. An equally important principle, however, has 
not been distinctly recognized, viz., that the plays themselves 
must be the ultimate test of all theories based on evidence 
drawn from external sources. Even the results obtained from 
the existing ruins must be made to conform to the require- 
nents of the plays,? in view of the many elements of uncer- 
tainty introduced by the alteration and decay of the ancient 
structures. But if ruins are found whose condition warrants 
definite conclusions, the testimony of the theatre and the 
requirements of the drama should be in perfect harmony. 


1 First definitely laid down by Gottfried Hermann in his recension of Otfried 
Miiller’s Eumenides. Albert Miiller, Biihnenalterthiimer, p. 107, subscribes to 
the same principle but fails to follosy it consistently. See the same author in Phil. 
Anzeiger, xv, p. 525; Wilamowitg-MOllendorff, Hermes, xxi, p. 603; and Haigh, 
Attic Theatre, p. 144. 

2 Dérpfeld himself, who bases his new theories entirely on archaeological and 
architectural grounds, recognizes the plays as our best source of information. See 
his recension of Haigh’s Attic Theatre, Berl. Phil. Woch. 1890, 468. 


5 


6 Edward Capps. [ 1891. 


If this harmony exists, we shall be justified in rejecting any 
contradicting testimony of Vitruvius, Pollux, or the scholiasts, 
especially since these writers have often been found in error.! 

The traditional belief that the Greek theatre had a stage 
of from ten to twelve feet in height? reserved almost exclu- 
sively for actors, as the orchestra was for the chorus,® and 
connected with the orchestra by a flight of steps,* students 
of the drama have long felt to be unsatisfactory for an easy 
and natural interpretation of the extant plays. Three impor- 
tant attempts have been made to relieve the difficulty caused 
by so great an elevation. That of Gottfried Hermann, who 
held that a platform for the chorus was erected in the orches- 
tra to within a few feet of the stage level, has been most widely 
received, but has been shown to rest on no sound evidence 
either literary or archaeological.® Julius Hépken in 1884, fol- 
lowing the suggestion of the plays, and finding support in the 
ancient authorities, announced the novel theory that both 
actors and chorus moved on the same level in the orchestra, 
in which was built a temporary platform on the level of the 
proscenium, while the proscenium, miscalled the stage, was 
used for the support of the stage machinery. Most recently 
Dr. Wilhelm Dorpfeld, the eminent architect and archaeolo- 
gist, after study of the best preserved ruins, has reached the 


1 Scholars have often been too ready to attribute error to Vitruvius. He claims 
(De Arch. v, 6, 7) to treat only of types of theatres. This is shown to be true by 
Oehmichen, Griechischer Theaterbau, p. gt ff.; cf. A. Miiller, Biihnenalt., p. 21. 
Vitruvius, moreover, nowhere says that he is speaking of the Greek theatre of 
classical times. Kirchhoff, Vergleichung der Ueberreste vom Theater zu Athen, 
p- 7, has vindicated his accuracy in details. For a general estimate of his work, 
see Geppert, Die altgr. Biihne, p. 85 ff. Pollux is full of errors; see Hermann, 
Op. vi, 2, p. 133. On the scholiasts, see A. Miiller, Phil. Anz. xv, p. 525. 

2 Vitruv. 5, 7, 2. 8 Pollux, Onom. 4, 123. # Poll. 4, 137 and scholiasts. 

δ Opusc. vi, 2, p. 153, defended by A. Miiller, Biihnenalt., p. 129, and by Wie- 
seler, Ueber die Thymele, who endeavors to prove that this platform was known 
as the “thymele.” For opposing arguments, see Kawerau in Baumeister’s Denk- 
miler, s.v. Theatergebiude; Haigh, Attic Theat., p- 154; D6rpfeld’s recension 
of the same, Berl. Phil. Woch. 1890, 467; and especially Harzmann, Questiones 
Scaenicae, pp. 15-27. 

6 De theatro Attico, Bonn, 1884, reviewed and severely criticised by A. 
Miiller, Phil. Anz. xv, p. 525 ff., and opposed by Niejahr, De Pollucis loco qui 
ad rem scaenicam spectat. This theory met with much opposition, largely be- 


Vol. xxii. ] The Greek Stage. 7 


conclusion that the theatre had no raised stage in classical 
times, but that the building usually supposed to be a stage, 
the proscenium, in reality represented the house before 
which the action of the piece was supposed to take place. 
Dorpfeld makes almost the same disposition of the actors 
as Hopken but offers a different explanation of the purpose 
of the proscenium. In accordance with the two principles 
of scenic investigation above laid down, it is my purpose to 
test this last theory of the stage in the light of the extant 
Greek dramas in order to ascertain first, what testimony 
these dramas furnish against an elevated stage, and second, 
how far they contain evidence in favor of it. 


I. EVIDENCE AGAINST AN ELEVATED STAGE. 


The arguments to be presented in the first part of this 
paper will be drawn from five distinct features that have 
been observed in the extant plays: A, the inter-action or 
commingling of actors and chorus; B, the general relation of 
the chorus to the drama and to the actors; C, the numbers 
brought upon the stage; D, the character of the scenic set- 
ting in certain plays; and E, certain street scenes in Aris- 


tophanes. 


A. Inter-action between Actors and Chorus. 


Obviously the most serious objection to the Vitruvian stage 
is that it renders intimate connection between actors and 
chorus extremely awkward and difficult. That there was such 
connection all scholars now agree, but it has been restricted 
as much as possible! on account of the difficulty which it was 
felt would be involved in the ascending to or descending from 
the stage. Assuming that the usual position of the chorus 
was in the orchestra, and that the commingling of actors and 


cause it overthrew the traditional belief, and on account of the method employed 
in gaining support from the ancient authorities. It was first recognized as prob- 
ably an attempt in the right direction in the Am. Jour. Phil. v, 253. 

1 A notable exception is that of Harzmann, Quaes. Scaen., who gives a very 
large number of instances of inter-action, but still contends for an elevated stage. 


8 Edward Capps. [1891. 


chorus made it necessary for one or the other to pass over 
the dividing line between the so-called “ stage’ (which term 
I shall frequently employ to designate the usual position of 
the actors without reference to altitude) and the orchestra, 


let us see what a natural interpretation of the plays de- 


mands. 


1. From Palace to Orchestra. In several plays the 
'chorus make their entrance into the orchestra by passing 
/ over the usual station of actors, generally coming from the 
| palace in the background,! as in Choephori 22 : 3 


\ > U v 
ἰαλτὸς ἐκ δόμων ἔβαν. 


The chorus in the Eumenides rush out of the temple in pur- 
suit of Orestes. They are probably still near the temple 
when Apollo drives them away, 178 ff. : 


ἔξω, κελεύω, τῶνδε δωμάτων τάχος 

χωρεῖτ. 
Similarly in the Troades the chorus come out from the tent of 
Hecabe, 176 (cf. 154 ff.) : 


¥ \ 
οἴμοι, τρομερὰ σκηνὰς ἔλιπον. 


We may suppose that they were in the orchestra for the 
first choral ode, 197 ff. In the Suppliants of Euripides the 
choreutae are first seen surrounding Aethra; see 8 ff. (cf. 


also 94): 


εἰς τάσδε yap βλέψασ᾽ ἐπηυξάμην τάδε 
γραῦς, αἱ λιποῦσαι δώματ᾽ ᾿Αργείας χθονὸς 
ἱκτῆρι θαλλῷ προσπίτνουσ᾽ ἐμὸν γόνυ 
πάθος παθοῦσαι δεινόν " KTE. 


The whole situation is described even more clearly in 100 ff. 
The first choral ode (42-86), therefore, must have been sung 


1 Werckmeister, Orchestra u. Biihne in der gr. Tragédie, p. 11, contends, but 
with insufficient evidence, that this is the case in all the tragedies of Aeschylus. 

2 References are to Dindorf’s Aeschylus, Bergk’s Sophocles, Nauck’s Euripides, 
and Meineke’s Aristophanes. 


Vol. xxii.] lhe Greek Stage. 9 


on the “stage.’’ The chorus are still in the same position 
ma 359 , > > 9S / / > ’ a 4 

ἀλλ᾿ ὦ yEpalal, σέμν αφαιρεῖτε στέφη 

μητρός. 


It is not until the choral passage beginning with 365 that 
we can suppose that they took their place in the orchestra. 

The women who form the chorus in the Ecclesiazusae 
appear at first as actors, some of them at least! coming from 
the doors in the rear. The house of their leader, Praxagora, 
is the principal one in the scene. The connection between 
actors and chorus is very intimate up to 311,—a feature 
which we shall discuss later. In the Lysistrata, although we 
have no positive evidence that the chorus of women come 
out from the citadel in 319, yet the demands of the situation 
make it probable that they do so.2. They come out as de- 
fenders of the citadel against the chorus of men. There is 
more doubt about the parodos of the chorus of Mystae in the 
Frogs. The words of the chorus (350 ff.) rather favor the 
view that they come from Pluto’s palace: 


σὺ δὲ λαμπάδι héyyov 
προβάδην ἔξαγ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀνθηρὸν ἕλειον δάπεδον 


χοροποιὸν μάκαρ ἥβαν. 


Schénborn (p. 356) gives excellent artistic reasons in sup- 
port of the same interpretation of the passage. He seems to 
be right also (p. 306) in making the chorus in the Thesmo- 
phoriazusae appear fromthe temple. From no other place 
could they so fittingly come, and the short choral song® (312- 
331) suggests a short parodos over the “stage” rather than 
a long one through the orchestra. He is wrong, however,, 


1 All of them, according to Schénborn, Skene der Hellenen, p. 329. 

2 80 also Droysen, Quaest. de Arist. re scaen., p. 65 ; Schdnborn, p. 299, fol- 
lowing the scholiast, makes them enter the stage from the right. But v. 352, 
θύρασιν βοηθεῖ, favors the view presented above. For this use of θύρασιν, cf. 
Eur. Elec. 1074, θύρασιν φαίνειν πρόσωπον. 

8 This short choral ode is characteristic of a parodos from the palace. Cf. 
Choeph. 22-83; Eum. 140-177; Troad. 153 ff.; Lys. 319-351. Contrast Sept. 
77-180; Pers. 1-158; Supp. (Aesch.) 1-175 ; Agam. 40-263; Bacch. 64-169, 
etc. 


10 Edward Capps. [1891. 


in supposing that they remain on the “stage” during the 
assembly scene, as we shall show later (p. 29). The narrow 
stage would scarcely have admitted of such a scene in any 


case.! 


2. From Orchestra to Palace. In three plays the exo- 
dos of the chorus is made from the orchestra to the house 
which forms the background. In the Choephori,? since 
they come from the palace in the beginning of the piece, so 
they must go back into it at the close, although indications 
as to their movements are entirely wanting. The chorus in 
the Persians® escort Xerxes into the royal palace. At the 
command πρὸς δόμους ἴθι (1038) the chorus begin to move 
slowly toward the palace. Finally comes the word to enter 
(1068), és δόμους κίε, and as they disappear they say : 


πέμψω τοί σε δυσθρόοις γόοις. 


For this conclusion we are prepared by the request of 
Atossa, 5209 ff. : 


\ “ΩΣ 37 MB) "ἢ A , , 
καὶ παῖδ᾽ ἐάν περ δεῦρ᾽ ἐμοῦ πρόσθεν μόλῃ, 
παρηγορεῖτε, καὶ προπέμπετ᾽ ἐς δόμους." 


In the Birds a messenger announces the coming of Pisthe- 
taerus and his bride, and bids the chorus receive them into 
their new home in Nephelococcygia,® 1708 : 


δέχεσθε τὸν τύραννον ὀλβίοις δόμοις. 


1 Similar to the instances above cited is Lys. 1239, discussed more fully else- 
where, where the chorus come from the palace. Dicaeopolis in Ach. 280 goes 
from his house into the orchestra, as is shown later (p. 73). 

2 Schénborn, p. 225, denies, without reason, that the palace was represented 
in the scenery, and thus avoids the crossing of the “stage” by the chorus. See 
Hermann’s arguments on this point in De re scaen. in Aesch. Orestea, p. 9. Al- 
bert Miiller, p. 125, note 7, favors the above. 

8 Wilamowitz-Mollendorff, Die Biihne des Aeschylus, Hermes, xxi, p. 607, 
contends that no conventional scenery was used in Supp., Sept., Pers., and Prom. 
of Aeschylus. His arguments are weaker for the Persians than for the other 
plays. Sommerbrodt, Scaenica, p. 147, cites v. 159 in favor of the usual scenery. 

* These verses are much better read after 850 with Wecklein. 

5 We follow Schénborn (p. 322) in supposing a change of scene (but not 
necessarily a change of scenery) at 1565, as the words of Poseidon, τὸ μὲν 
πόλισμα τῆς Νεφελοκοκκνγίας ὁρᾶν τοδὶ πάρεστιν, seem to demand. Muhl, Sym- 


Vol. xxii. | The Greek Stage. II 


They accordingly arrange their ranks and sing about the 


pair the hymenaeum, 1720 ff. : 


/ 
ἄναγε Sieve Tapaye πάρεχε 


περιπέτεσθε μάκαρα μάκαρα σὺν τύχᾳ, κτέ. 
At its conclusion they are invited by Pisthetaerus to follow 
in the bridal train, 1755 ff. : 


ἕπεσθε viv γάμοισιν ὦ 
φῦλα πάντα συννόμων 
πτεροφύρ᾽ ἐπὶ δάπεδον Διὸς 
καὶ λέχος γαμήλιον. 

With these last instances may be classed those in which 
the chorus leave the orchestra and enter the palace during 
the progress of the play. These are two in number, and of 
course involve two passings each between “stage” and or- 
chestra. The situation in the Helen is clearly seen from the 


following passages, 327 ff. : 


Xo. θέλω δὲ κἀγὼ σοὶ συνεισελθεῖν δόμους 
καὶ συμπυθέσθαι παρθένου θεσπίσματα. 
+ * * x * * 
‘EX. φίλαι, λόγους ἐδεξάμαν * 
βᾶτε βᾶτε δ᾽ εἰς δόμους. 


They return in 515: 


‘ > “ “ / 
Xo. ἤκουσα τᾶς θεσπιῳδοῦ κόρας, 
ἃ χρήσασ᾽ ἐφάνη ᾽ν τυράννοις 


δόμοις, KTE. 


So in the Lysistrata both the chorus of men and the chorus 
of women! enter the citadel at the invitation of Lysistrata 
(1182 ff.). That the women as well as the men go in is 
shown by the character of the following ode sung by the 
former (cf. 1195 ff.: πᾶσιν ὑμῖν λέγω λαμβάνειν TOV ἐμῶν 


bolae ad rem scaen. Ach. et Av., p. 35, opposes this view. If his view 15 correct 


the exit would be made through one of the wings. 
1 This is Schénborn’s view (p. 301), strengthened by additional arguments, 


Droysen (p. 61) holds that only the chorus of men entered, but he gives no grounds 
for his belief. 


12 Edward Capps. [1891. 


χρημάτων νῦν ἔνδοθεν), by the fact that they do not appear 
again as a separate chorus, and by the scene of the market- 
loungers (1216-1241), which is plainly thrown in by the poet 
to fill the gap in the action of the piece caused by the dis- 
appearance of both actors and chorus. The two choruses 
come out again at 1239, and with them the Laconian ambas- 
sadors, who now form a third chorus, joining after one choral 
ode the women of the chorus who are Spartans, while the 
Athenian men join the Athenian women, and all march 
together in two bodies from the scene. Lysistrata seems 
to have become one of the chorus of women. 

As bearing on this same point we may cite here the most 
striking instance of communication between “stage” and 
orchestra in the Greek drama, that in the Cyclops. The 
decoration of the scene represents the cave of the Cyclops 
(cf. 33, 82, 87, etc.). In it are kept his flocks (cf. 35 and 
388), as in the Odyssey. The chorus of Satyrs come in ac- 
companied by προσπόλοι driving the flocks, and are directed 
by Silenus to bid these servants drive them into the cave, 
82 ff.: 

σιγήσατ', ὦ τέκν᾽, ἄντρα δ᾽ εἰς πετρηρεφῆ 
ποίμνας ἀθροῖσαι προσπόλους κελεύσατε. 


Their answer shows that the command was obeyed :} 


“ f \ v 
χωρεῖτ᾽ " ἀτὰρ δὴ τίνα, πάτερ, σπουδὴν ἔχεις ; 


We may believe that real goats were driven over the “ stage,” 
or else that some attempt was made to represent goats by 
suitable costumes, as the choruses of birds and wasps were 
represented in Aristophanes. It would hardly suffice that the 
actions indicated should be carried out only in dumb show 
with imaginary flocks. 


3. Chorus and Actors depart together. In a large num- 
ber of plays, chorus and actors make their final exit for 
the same destination, in addition to the three plays already 


1 Bruno Arnold, De rebus scaenicis in Euripidis Cyclope, p. 19 ff., feeling the 
absurdity of making sheep climb steps to a high platform, tries unsuccessfw'y to 
prove that they and the chorus enter the “stage” by one of the wings. 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 13 


cited where this destination is the palace. In every in- | 


] 


stance it is the natural supposition that they depart together | 


and by the same place of exit, but many writers! on this sub- 
ject, in view of the supposed difficulty caused by the height 
of the “stage,” have supposed the chorus to leave the orches- 
tra by one of the parodoi, and the actors to leave the “stage” 
through one of the wings; the direction in which they depart 
would be the same, and the spectators must imagine them 
to meet after their disappearance from view. It is neces- 
sary, therefore, to bring together from the plays, both from 
the text itself and from the general situation, all the instances 


which furnish evidence that the actors and chorus were actu- | 


ally together in making their exit. 

The closing scene of the Eumenides is a splendid proces- 
sion in which all take part, — Athene, the Areopagites, the 
servants of the temple, and the Eumenides. Athene leads 
the way,” 1003: 


προτέραν δ᾽ ἐμὲ χρὴ 
στείχειν. 


The temple-servants follow with lighted torches, serving as 
an escort to the procession proper. Cf. 1005: 


πρὸς φῶς ἱερὸν τῶνδε προπομπών; 
and 1024: 
\ ΄. 4 al 4 
ξὺν προσπόλοισιν, αἵτε φρουροῦσιν, βρέτας 
τοὐμὸν δικαίως. 


Then come the Areopagites, and lastly the Erinyes them- 
selves, 1010 ff.: 


ς aA : ~ ~ 
ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ἡγεῖσθε, πολισσοῦχοι 
παῖδες Κραναοῦ, ταῖσδε μετοίκοις. 


1 Schénborn, pp. 129, 134 and 137, and A. Miller, Biihnenalt., p. 119. It 
seems strange that the latter, while seeing the absurdity of supposing that 
actors and chorus in such passages are seen by the spectators to depart in differ- 
ent directions for the same destination, should not have realized that it would 
be almost as absurd for them to be on widely different levels, separated by an im- 
passable barrier. 

2 See Wecklein, Orestie, note on Eum. 1032. 


i 


| 


14 Edward Capps. [ 1891. 


Any interpretation of this scene which would make the rear 
of the procession depart on a different level and by a differ- 
ent route from that taken by Athene and the Areopagites 
would ruin its grandeur and impressiveness. 

Equally repugnant to our ideas of artistic propriety, as well 
as in direct contradiction to the words of the text, is the sup- 
position that in the Septem the semi-choruses do not follow 
directly after Antigone and Ismene in the funeral trains of 
Polynices and Eteocles respectively. Cf. 1068 ff. : 


e A 
Ημέχορος Α΄. ἡμεῖς μὲν ἴμεν καὶ συνθάψομεν 
αἵδε προπομποὶ κτέ. 
* * * # * 


‘Hulyopos Β΄. ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἅμα τῷδε até. 


It is inconceivable that the poet should represent the body 
and chief mourners as moving off the ‘stage,’ while the 
principal part of the funeral procession is marching ten feet 
below, intending to join the body outside. If this division 
of the chorus was to be at all effective, the second semi- 
chorus must have openly shared the danger of Antigone. 
The semi-choruses must have gone over the “stage” or 
the actors into the orchestra. The analogy of Ecc. 1149, 
Plut. 1208, and Vesp. 1516 (see p. 18) is decidedly in favor of 
the latter course. The words of the text alone, apart from 
aesthetic reasons, demand that all should go out together 
(cf. προπομποί and ἅμα τῷδε). 
a The correctness of this view is proven conclusively by com- 
parison of the scene in the Septem with a similar scene in 
the Alcestis.1_ Admetus is addressing the chorus, 422 ff. : 


ἀλλ, ἐκφορὰν yap τοῦδε θήσομαι νεκροῦ, 
πάρεστε καὶ μένοντες ἀντηχήσατε 
παιᾶνα τῷ κάτωθεν ἀσπόνδῳ Bea. 


The funeral accordingly takes place, and, as we expect from 
the above words, the choreutae follow in the procession (cf. 
740, στείχωμεν, ὡς ἂν ἐν πυρᾷ θῶμεν νεκρόν). Neither Ad- 


1 Cf. Harzmann’s Quaes. Scaen. (Diss. Inaug., Halle, 1889), p. 39. 


fo 


Vol. xxii.] Lhe Greek Stage. 15 


metus nor the chorus is seen again until they return from the 
tomb, 861 ff. : 


᾽ + 
Ao. ἰώ, στυγναὶ πρόσοδοι, στυγναὶ δ᾽ ὄψεις 
/ / 
χήρων μελάθρων" 
* * * * * 


’ / ἴω fal " 
Xo. πρόβα πρόβα: βᾶθι κεῦθος οἴκων. 


Admetus and the chorus both go out and return together. 

The Suppliants of Aeschylus also closes with a procession, 
consisting of Danaus with his body-guards and the chorus 
with their attendants. The King bids the chorus go to the 
city (954 ff.), but before complying they ask that their father 
be sent to guide them (968 ff.). Accordingly when Danaus 
arrives (980) with his body-guard (cf. 985 ff.), and after he 
has given the necessary instructions, we must suppose that 
they all begin to move off the scene. Danaus, as we should 
expect, was at their head,! for he was the first to disappear 
from view, as is shown by the fact that he Says nothing in 
the last sixty verses of the play. 

The chorus of men of Salamis in the Ajax follow the 
body of their chief in the funeral procession with which the 


play closes. This cannot be doubted when we remember that 
the words 1413 ff., 


> a ἂν κι Λ δ 
ἄλλ᾿ aye πᾶς, φίλος ὅστις ἀνὴρ 
\ A 4 
φησὶ παρεῖναι, σούσθω, βάτω 
γδ᾽ > 5 \ “ “A , te » “Ὁ 
τῷο ἄνὸρὶ πονῶν τῷ πάντ᾽ ἀγαθῷ 
> / 4 n ᾿ 
κοὐδενί πω λῴονι θνητῶν, 


could refer to none so well as to the men of the chorus who 
were devoted adherents of the fallen Ajax. 

In the Philoctetes also we find the Same conclusion. Phi- 
loctetes, Odysseus, Neoptolemus, and the chorus of sailors 
all go out together. Cf 1469: 


χωρῶμεν δὴ πάντες ἀολλεῖς. 


1 Schénborn, p- 286, also takes this interpretation here, because he thinks that 
the chorus was on the “stage” throughout the play. But see Ρ- 36, of this 


article. 


16 Edward Capps. [1891. 


It does not satisfy either the word ἀολλεῖς 1 or the demands of 
the situation to interpret these words of the chorus as refer- 
ring only to themselves. We have here a tragedy with a 
happy ending, where former enemies become reconciled and 
leave the scene together in token of their reconciliation, — 
such a scene as Aristotle? comments upon as more suitable 
to comedy than to tragedy. 

The chorus of Satyrs in the Cyclops follow Odysseus to 
his ship. There is no reason here to doubt that they join 
the company of Odysseus in all respects as do his other 
attendants. Cf. 708 ff.: 


ἡμεῖς δὲ συνναῦταί ye τοῦδ᾽ ᾿Οδυσσέως 
ὄντες τὸ λοιπὸν Βακχίῳ δουλεύσομεν. 


In the Suppliants of Euripides the chorus go with Adras- 
tus from the scene. Cf. 1232: 


; Μ ς 
στείχωμεν, “Adpacte, KTE. 


As will be shown later, Adrastus and the women of the 
chorus, having the same mission, are together throughout a 
large portion of the play. It is quite fitting therefore that 
he, their leader, should conduct them home at the end, just 
as Danaus leads the chorus in the Suppliants of Aeschylus. 

The chorus in the Ion are servants of Creusa, and we may 
reasonably believe that they attend their mistress as servants 
at the close of the play when she sets out for her home in 
Athens. Although there is no direct evidence that they 
make their exit together, we have learned from the in- 
stances already cited that a procession was a favorite con- 
clusion for a drama, and here the situation demands it; 
the very relation of the chorus to the actors requires this 
manner of exit. 

Although in the Troades the herald of Agamemnon orders 
Hecabe to follow him (1269), and orders the women of the 
chorus to wait for the call of the trumpet, yet Hecabe 


1 Οἵ, ἀολλεῖς in Trach. 513, of τότ᾽ ἀολλεῖς ἴσαν és μέσον, referring to the 
fierce hand to hand battle of Acheloiis and Heracles, 
2 Poetics, 1453 A, cited by Campbell. 


RIS 8 nee ee “ὦ « -_ ne 
----.-. 


Vol. χχί!.] The Greek Stage. 17 


remains until the close of the play, and the chorus leave 
immediately after her. Cf. 1328 ff.: 


¢ ᾿ Ἁ \ ‘4 / 8.9 
Ex. τρομερὰ τρομερὰ μέλεα, φέρετ᾽ ’e- 
‘ » _ Be _Iae | \ / 
μον tyvos. {τ ἔπι τάλαιναν 
ὃ 4 e / / 
οὕὔλειον ἁμέραν βίου. 


γ 2\ ͵ , ἡ 
Χο. ἰὼ τάλαινα πόλις - ὅμως δὲ 


’ / Ν 
πρόφερε πόδα σὸν ἐπὶ πλάτας ᾿Αχαιῶν. 


Here we see clearly the poet’s fondness for the dramatic 
conclusion which is under consideration. He detained He- 
cabe so long after the order to depart for this reason —in 
order to give the play a more impressive close, by having 
the former queen Hecabe lead the way for her companions 
to the life of slavery and humiliation. 

Frequently we have found this conclusion of a play in 
tragedy, in comedy it is well nigh the prevailing one. In 
eight of the eleven plays of Aristophanes the chorus go out 
in procession! with the actors. Sometimes the effect would 
be decidedly ludicrous, as in the Acharnians and Wasps ; 
again it would be grand and impressive, as in the Frogs, which 
reminds us somewhat of the closing scene in the Eumenides. 
But whatever its object in individual plays, we can readily 
see how extremely effective such a close would naturally be. 
The case in the Acharnians ? is clear from 1231 ff. : 


Ai ἕπεσθέ 16 DTH 

K. €7éoUVE νυν AOOVTES ὦ τήνελλα καλλίνικος. 
7 > >. 2 / 

Xo. add’ ἑψόμεσθα σὴν χάριν Kré. 


In the Frogs, Aeschylus is escorted with great pomp from 
the lower world by the chorus of Mystae, accompanied by 
Dionysus and Xanthias. Cf. 1524 ff.: 


1 The same argument is advanced by Professor White in his article The Stage 
in Aristophanes, Harvard Studies, 1891. The present paper was completed 
before the appearance of that article, and its conclusions, though similar in several 
important details, were reached independently. References are given to Pro- 
fessor White’s article in every ‘case, I think, of noteworthy agreement or disagree- 
ment. 

* Droysen, p. 8, agrees with this obviously correct view. Muhl, p. 20, fol- 
lowing Schénborn, opposes, but on very weak grounds. 


18 Edward Capps. 


Πλούτων. daivete τοίνυν ὑμεῖς τούτῳ 
λαμπάδας ἱεράς, χἅμα προπέμπετε 
τοῖσιν τούτου τοῦτον μέλεσιν. 

At the close of the Ecclesiazusz, Blepyrus goes into the 
orchestra and heads the procession, in which the chorus 
joins. Cf. 1149 ff.: 

Br. ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς τὸ δεῖπνον ἤδη ᾿πείξομαι" 
ἔχω δέ τοι καὶ dada ταυτηνὶ καλῶς. 

Xo. τί δῆτα διατρίβεις ἔχων, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἄγεις 
τασδὶ λαβών; ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ καταβαίνεις, ἐγὼ 


2 , / / 
ETATOMAL μέλος TL μελλοδειπνικόν. 


* * * * 
~ “ὦ \ ’ 
κρητικῶς οὖν τὼ πόδε 
\ ry 6 
καὶ ov κίνει. BX. τοῦτο δρῶ. 


With these last ψογάβ,: Blepyrus takes his position at the 
head of the line and begins the dance with which the play 
ends. This is very similar to the action at the end of the 
Plutus and the Wasps. In the former the choreutae with- 
draw to one side, while the procession bound for the temple 
of Athene marches from the house. At the fitting time 
they attach themselves to the line, bringing up the rear with 
songs. Cf. 1208 ff. : 


r > \ a) > a 
Xo. οὐκ ἔτι τοίνυν εἰκὸς μέλλειν οὐδ᾽ ἡμᾶς, ἀλλ᾽ ἀναχωρεῖν 
» A , 4 v ¢ 
ἐς τοὔπισθεν" δεῖ yap κατόπιν τούτων ἄδοντας ἕπεσθαι. 


In the Wasps the sons of Carcinus appear in response to 
Philocleon’s challenge of tragic poets to a contest in dancing. 
The contest takes place. That it takes place in the orchestra 
is shown by the fact that the choreutae draw back to make 
room for the dancers, just as in the Plutus they make room 
for those who are coming from the house. Cf. 1516 ff.: 

φέρε νυν ἡμεῖς αὐτοῖς ὀλίγον ξυγχωρήσωμεν ἅπαντες, 

iv ἐφ᾽ ἡσυχίας ἡμῶν πρόσθεν βεμβικίξζωσιν ἑαυτούς. 
At last, at the conclusion of the contest, they all leave the 
scene together, dancing. Cf. 1535 ff.: 


1 But see White, l.c. p. 169, who assigns them to the chorus. 


Vol. xxii.] Ihe Greek Stage. 


ἀλλ᾽ ἐξάγετ', εἴ τι φιλεῖτ᾽ ὀρχούμενοι, θύραξε 
ἡμᾶς ταχύ. 


We have already shown (ρΡ.11) how the chorus of women 
and the chorus of men in the Lysistrata leave the orchestra 
and enter the house in the background, and how at the con- 
clusion of the feast, after they have again made their appear- 
ance, they are joined by the Athenians and Laconians who 
have heretofore been actors. Cf. 1272 ff.: 


᾽ / 4 9 
Avo. ἀπάγεσθε ταύτας ὦ Λάκωνες, τασδεδὶ 
e ~ > \ ~ 
ὑμεῖς - ἀνὴρ δὲ Tapa γυναῖκα καὶ γυνὴ 
7 > 
στήτω παρ᾽ ἄνδρα, KTE. 


Then follow two choral passages by Athenians and Laconians 
respectively, during which they all go out together. 

The Peace, like the Birds, closes with a bridal procession. 
We have seen that in the latter the procession goes into the 
dwelling represented inthe scene. Here, however, the dwell- 
ing is the starting point, the country is the destination, as we 
see from 1316,' χρὴ τὴν νύμφην ἔξω τινὰ δεῦρο κομίζειν, and 
also from 1329, δεῦρ᾽ ὦ γύναι εἰς ἀγρόν. One semi-chorus es- 
corts the bridegroom, the other the bride (Schénborn, p. 341). 


ΟΥ̓: 
Χο. ἀλλ᾽ ἀράμενοι φέρω- 
μεν οἱ προτεταγμένοι 
τὸν νυμφίον ὦνδρες. 
Τρ. ὦ χαίρετε χαίρετ' ἄν- 
ὃρες, κἂν ξυνέπησθέ μοι 
πλακοῦντας ἔδεσθε. 


To these passages from tragedy and comedy should be 
added the entirely anomalous exodos of the Prometheus. The 
Oceanides are with Prometheus, but are warned by Hermes 
to leave him, lest they too receive harm when he is punished. 


1 Verse 1312, ἀλλ᾽ ὦ πρὸ τοῦ πεινῶντες ἐμβάλλεσθε τῶν λαγῴων is only the mo- 
tiving of the advance of the chorus toward the “stage.” They do not at once 
attack the viands, for no time is given, and the last verse of the play, quoted 
above, shows that they have not yet eaten. See, however, White, p. 165. 


20 Ledward Capps. [1891. 


They refuse, declaring it their purpose to suffer with him. 
1058 ff. : 


‘Ep. ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ὑμεῖς γ᾽ ai πημοσύναις 
συγκάμνουσαι ταῖς τοῦδε τόπων 
μετά ποι χωρεῖτ᾽ ἐκ τῶνδε θοῶς, KTE. 

* * * * * 


Xo. peta τοῦδ᾽ ὅτι χρὴ πάσχειν ἐθέλω. 


And so, when the great convulsion of nature comes, they are 
engulfed along with Prometheus.! 

We have seen that a natural interpretation of the words 
of the text, assuming that the arrangement of the thea- 
tre offered no obstacle to free and natural action, reveals 
the fact that in twenty? plays actors and chorus make their 
exit at the end of the piece together and through the same 
passage-way. In each one of these plays, therefore, it was 
necessary for either the actors or the chorus to pass over the 
dividing line between “stage” and orchestra. In still other 
plays* the student may find that purely artistic reasons de- 
mand the same conclusion, especially since we know that it 
was decidedly a favorite conclusion with the classical as it is 
with the modern dramatists. It gives an opportunity to the 
poet to group together in one suggestive tableau those in 
whom the interest of the spectators had been centred. 


4. Chorus and Actors enter together. The converse of 
the dramatic conclusion just mentioned, viz. : for the chorus 
to make their appearance in company with actors, would 
serve no such artistic purpose, and is by no means so fre- 
quent. We have shown that actors and chorus enter together 
in the midst of the play in the Alcestis. In the Ecclesia- 
zusae the women who form the chorus are in the éarly part 


1 This is the only natural interpretation of the words of the text. So Wil: 
mowitz-Méellendorf, l.c., p. 610. Wecklein, note ad loc., says that verses 
1071-79 merely motive the exit of the chorus from the orchestra, to avoid the 
use of the “ machina” again, and that the chorus sink through the dvarlecua of 
the orchestra, Prometheus through that of the “ stage’! 

2 In three (Choéphori, Persians, and Birds) into the palace. 

8 As for example in the Trachiniae, according to Schénborn, p. 134. 


Vol. xxii.] Ihe Greek Stage. 21 


of the play actors, or at least not to be distinguished from the 
actors. They come out from the house (see p. 9) and soon 


.are in the orchestra, practising for the ecclesia (see p. 20). 


Later in the play (478 ff.) the same women, both actors and 
chorus, who participated in the opening scene reappear, re- 
turning from the ecclesia. They would most naturally come 
in by the same entrance, even Praxagora, though she entered 
after the rest (500). In the Plutus Carion is sent out to 
summon his master’s friends. He returns with them, 253, 
but they do not reach the house of Chremylus until 315, 
although they hasten (cf. 255-8). They must have come in 
together through the orchestra, just as do Pisthetaerus and 
Euelpides in the Birds. During the whole scene Carion is 
evidently hurrying on; the old men, grumbling at his haste, 
trying to keep up with him, are all the while closely engaged 
in conversation with him.?, The words of Carion in 295 and 
308 (ἕπεσθε) may be quoted as further proof. In 321 Carion 
goes into the house. 

We can hardly avoid the conclusion that the chorus enter 
in a similar way in the Electra of Euripides. Electra has 
been to the spring for water, and is now slowly returning, 
chanting her lament. Orestes catches sight of her at 107; 
her song continues until 166. If, as Schoénborn believes, she 
appeared from the right side door of the scene, the middle 
door representing her home, she would have had _ scarcely 
time to sing so long an ode. But when at its conclusion she 
is accosted by the girls of the chorus, she is still, apparently, 
at some distance from the house, far she does not see the 
two men at the door for fifty verses (215). She seems there- 
fore to be coming slowly from the parodos through the or- 
chestra when the chorus enter from the opposite parodos, in- 
vite her to the festival, and express their sympathy. All the 


1 There can be no doubt that they enter together, and the interval between 
253 and 315 is too long for a parodos from the wings. See note on p. 9. 

2 According to Niejahr, De Poll. loco, p. x1, though he tries to limit the 
intermingling of actors and chorus, this feature of the passage would in itself 
decide for our explanation, “Immo quam maximo jure de universis fabulis 
mihi videor statuere eos qui inter se colloquantur actores, nisi singularibus de 
causis disjungendi erant, eodem loco debere versari.” 


22 Edward Capps. [1891. 


while, as they converse they are slowly moving towards the 
house, so absorbed that they do not see Orestes and Pylades 
until they are near the door. Then Electra, being somewhat 
in advance, runs toward the house, directing the chorus to 
flee along the path by which they had come in together. Cf. 


218 ff. : 


aA \ \ ’ 3 > 4 ὩΣ. \ 
φυγῇ σὺ μὲν κατ᾽ οἶμον, eis δόμους δ᾽ ἐγὼ 
φῶτας κακούργους ἐξαλύξωμεν ποδί. 


Before Electra can enter the house Orestes detains her, and 
the chorus evidently do not quite leave the scene, for they 
speak again after Electra’s fears are allayed (297). The 
poet’s reason for these movements is clear. The chorus in 
this play are unessential to the action. The motive for their 
introduction is very slight, and their long and sympathetic 
conversation with Electra is required to make it appear even 
sufficient. They are no longer needed during the recogni- 
tion scene, and the passage just mentioned is the poet’s de- 
vice for withdrawing them from the main action, bringing 
the brother and sister into greater prominence. 

In connection with these three plays it remains to consider 
four others, in which the chorus is in a peculiar relation 
towards the actors who first appear, which seems to require 
that they should either appear together or should at least 
come in by the same entrance, as if they had been together 
shortly before. In two of these four, the Suppliants of 
Aeschylus and the lon, the chorus are the first to speak ; in 
the other two, the Philoctetes and the Bacchantes, the actors. 

In the Suppliants Danaus is the father and leader and pro- 
tector of the chorus. We have seen that he acts in this 
capacity of leader at the close of the play, conducting his 
daughters from the scene. What more fitting than that he 
should be at their head when the play begins, when the 
maidens enter, marching to the accompaniment of the ana- 
paests, announcing their lineage and their trouble?! Their 
words (12 ff.), 


1 Niejahr, De Poll. loco, p. ΧΙ, realizing the incongruity of the situation as he 
is forced to understand it in this passage, says: “ Haec ipsa res, Danaum, etsi solus 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 


\ 
Δαναὸς δὲ πατὴρ καὶ βούλαρχος 
καὶ στασίαρχος, KTé., 


are to explain to the audience the presence of the old man 
who is with them, —an explanation all the more necessary 
since he himself does not speak until 176. That he does not 
speak, is no objection to our view ; neither does Clytemnestra 
speak in the Agamemnon until 264, though addressed as pres- 
ent by the chorus in 83.1 There is no reason why Danaus 
should speak before. When he does speak, his words bear 
out our interpretation of the opening scene, for he appar- 
ently has heard them descanting on their troubles and there- 
fore warns them to take counsel, 176 ff. : 


παῖδες, φρονεῖν χρή" ξὺν φρονοῦντι δ᾽ ἥκετε 
πιστῷ γέροντι τῷδε ναυκλήρῳ πατρί. 


It is to be noted that he says ξὺν... ἥκετε. But even if they 
do not all come upon the scene at the same time, we must 
still believe that they come through the same entrance.. 
From his first words we see that he has gone in advance of 
them to this station for the purpose of reconnoitering. 

The beginning of the Ion reveals a similar situation. The 
chorus enter the orchestra from one of the parodoi, for other- 
wise they could not have seen so clearly the figures in the 
metopes (185 ff.). Creusa, their mistress, enters with them; 
for, not to repeat the general arguments mentioned before, 
she is spoken of as present when Ion asks whose servants: 


ἃς 


they are, 234: oe 
δμωαὶ δὲ τίνων κλήζετε δόμων; 


Immediately after the answer of the chorus, 


Παλλάδος ἔνοικα τρόφιμα μέλαθρα 
τῶν ἐμῶν τυράννων. 

, Age \ A 3. ἐξ os 
παρούσας δ᾽ ἀμφὶ τἂσ δ᾽ ἐρωτᾷς, 


dux et custos filiarum inducitur, tamen alio loco atque illas et prodire et per ali- 
quantum temporis agere (a v. 176-210), omnino explicari non potest, nisi puta- 
buntur Graeci consuesse actores semper alio loco atque chorum spectare.” 

1 Wecklein, Orestie, note on Agam. 83, thinks that she is still in the palace, 
quoting in support Aj. 134. But in the apostrophe to Ajax there is no such indi- 
cation of the presence of the person addressed as there is in the Agamemnon; 
cf. 85 τί χρέος; τί νέον; xré. Electra in the Choephori is silent from 16 to 84. 


24 Edward Capps. [1891. 


Ion turns and looks in the direction indicated and at once 
sees her. The question arises, why has she not either spoken 
or been referred to before 237 if she has been present since 
184? The explanation is found in the context. lon refuses 
the chorus admission into the temple unless they have per- 
formed the necessary rites, 226 ff. : 


> \ > 4 , Ν / 
εἰ μὲν ἐθύσατε πέλανον πρὸ δόμων 
καί τι πυθέσθαι χρήζετε Φοίβου, 
’ > > , ς 
πάριτ᾽ ἐς θυμέλας, κτε. 


Creusa had come to consult Phoebus and must needs enter the 
temple. She therefore has stopped at an altar πρὸ δόμων to 
make the sacrifice. This altar was probably at one side of 
the scene not far from the parodos by which she entered, so 
that she might easily have escaped the notice of Ion, absorbed 
in his conversation with the maidens. Ion’s address to her 
(238-246) shows that Creusa is still at some distance at first, 
but coming nearer she draws from him the exclamation of 
wonder éa: ἀλλ᾽ ἐξέπληξάς με. 

In the Philoctetes there is reason to think that the chorus 
come in with Neoptolemus and Odysseus at the beginning. 
The office of the chorus in this play was to assist in taking 
away Philoctetes and to fulfil this purpose it was as necessary 
that they should be in attendance from the beginning as at any 
time. There is no intimation of their approach before they 
speak in 135, nor any point between 1 and 135 where their 
entrance would be quite fitting. It has been claimed that we 
find no other instance! of a chorus being silent throughout 
135 verses after their entrance; but this very fact, and the 
unusual character of the scene, would have made their silence 
the more effective. How much more impressive it would be, 


1 Schénborn, p. 267. In discussing this point he admits the force of the 
arguments which require their entrance before 135, but because “tritt nie eine 
Person mit dem Chore zusammen so auf, dass sie selbst auf dem Logeion, der Chor 
in der Orchestra erscheint,” he puts their entrance at some uncertain point 
between 1 and 135, nearer the latter. But why was it necessary in any case for 
one to appear in the orchestra and the other on the “stage,” when all artistic 
reasons are against such a division? Schneidewin-Nauck agrees that the chorus 
were present from the first. 


Vol. xxii.] SS Greek Stage. 25 


and to how much higher a pitch would the expectation of the 
spectators be raised, if, while Neoptolemus is following the 
instructions of Odysseus and approaching silently the cave of 
Philoctetes (22 προσελθὼν σῖγα), the chorus of men cautiously 
and speechless wait behind to see if the man is in his home, 
than if the two main actors alone were seen. The first words 
of the chorus and their movements throughout show that they 
are fully informed of what passed between Neoptolemus and 
Odysseus in the opening scene,! and Odysseus as he leaves 
uses a plural verb (126 dox7jre).2 The chorus therefore were 
not only present from the first, but came in along with the 
actors. 

The reasons given to show that the chorus in the Suppli- 
ants and Ion appeared either with the actors or following 
close after through the same entrance, apply also to the Bac- 
chae, where Dionysus, having spoken the prologue, in 55 
addresses the chorus: : 


ἀλλ᾽ ὦ λιποῦσαι Tua@dov ἔρυμα Λυδίας 
θίασος ἐμός, γυναῖκες, ἃς ἐκ βαρβάρων 
ἐκόμισα παρέδρους καὶ ξυνεμπόρους ἐμοί. 


We find no special reason why the chorus should have 
appeared before this point, and they probably do not, but as 
the immediate followers of the god, and his fellow-travellers, 
they must have come by the same way. There is no reason 
why they should not have come as usual through the parodos 
into the orchestra as in the Suppliants (Aesch.) and Ion; 
hence Dionysus probably reached the “stage” through the 
orchestra. 

Though actors and chorus in the Birds do not enter to- 
gether, yet since the actors at the beginning of that play 
seem to come in through the orchestra, the passage may 
be cited here for convenience. Euelpides and Pisthetaerus 


1 As even Schiénborn admits. Jebb, who assumes that the chorus did not 
enter until 135, is compelled to deny (note on 135) that they show any knowl- 
edge of what had passed in 70 ff. But this explanation of their words is forced. 

2 So we often find servants referred to as present or directly addressed without 
previous indication of their entrance or presence. 


26 Edward Capps. [1891. 


appear, wandering about over a rough, stony country, and at 
last reach the home of Epops. That this was on ground 
that was, or was pretended to be, somewhat elevated, is evi- 
dent not only from the fact that it was the home of a bird, 
but also from two passages in the play, 49 ff.: 


> / / 
Tlic. οὗτος. Ev. τί ἔστιν; ΠῚ ισ. xopwvn μοι Taras 
\ 7 \ 
ἄνω τι φράζει. Ev. χὠ κολοιὸς οὑτοσὶ 
4 / 
ἄνω κέχηκεν ὡσπερεὶ δεικνύς τί μοι. 


and, after they have reached the spot, 175 ff.: 


Πισ. βλέψον κάτω. Ev. καὶ δὴ βλέπω. Πισ. βλέπε 
νῦν ἄνω. 


Schénborn (p. 318 ff.) is of the opinion that the two actors 
enter-in the usual way, on the “stage,” and then climb by 
ladders to a balcony which was in front of the house of 
the Epops. The difficulty with this view is twofold. In the 
first place, the house of Epops is the central point of the 
action of the play for over a thousand verses; all actors 
would thus have to mount the ladders at their entrance and 
descend again at their exit. Secondly, the whole chorus, 
soon after their entrance into the orchestra, make an attack 
upon Euelpides and Pisthetaerus, who are supposed to be in 
the balcony. Now according to Schénborn the chorus would 
not only have to ascend the high stage, but would also have 
to ascend the ladders to the balcony,—either of which 
actions would be out of the question for a large chorus, and 
which, taken together, are absolutely inconceivable. <A bal- 
cony therefore was not used, and the place to which the two 
actors ascended was such that it could be readily reached by 
the chorus also. Since after the opening scene no reference 
is made to the height of this place, it is probable that the diffi- 
culty of the ascent was suggested to the spectators mainly by 
the actions and words of the chorus, and not to any important 
extent by the nature of the ground. Cf. p. 76. That the actors 
enter through the orchestra is shown by the time occupied 
in reaching the door of the house of Epops (from 1 to 54)." 

1 Compare the beginning of the Plutus; see p.21. These two passages furnish 


valuable evidence in favor of the view that in all of the plays cited under this 
head actors and chorus entered together through the orchestra. 


Vol. xxii. ] The Greek Stage. 27 


5. Chariot Scenes. In four plays actors enter in chariots. 
The question has been much discussed whether the chariot 
appeared in the orchestra or on the stage. Hermann! 
claimed that, since actors never reached the stage through 
the orchestra, chariots also must have come in on the stage, 
unless it could be shown that there was too little space 
between the rear wall and the periacti (i.e. in the wings) 
for the passage of horses and chariots; and this, he held, 
could not be shown, because several actors bearing a corpse 
often enter and depart through these passages. But, as a 
matter of fact, actors often do reach the “stage” from the 
orchestra;? and the presence of chariot and horses on the 
very narrow stage in which Hermann believed, would have 
given rise to endless confusion, especially since they appear 
occasionally to remain for a long time on the scene. But the 
most conclusive answer is gained by a comparison of the 
various scenes in which this occurrence is found. In the Iphi- 
genia at Aulis the context shows that the chariot appeared 
in the orchestra. The women of Chalcis, who form the cho- 
rus, when they see Clytemnestra and Iphigenia approaching, 
propose to assist them from their chariot, 598 ff.: 


στῶμεν, Χαλκίδος ἔκγονα θρέμματα 
τὴν βασίλειαν δεξώμεθ᾽ ὄχων 

ἄπο μὴ σφαλερῶς ἐπὶ γαῖαν 
ἀγανῶς δὲ χεροῖν μαλακῇ γνώμῃ, 


and so we are prepared for the following words of Clytem- 
nestra, 607 ff.: 


1De re scen. in Aesch. Orest., p. 7. For references to the literature of the 
discussion on this point see Miiller’s Biihnenalt, p. 134, note 1. Miiller adopts 
Hermann’s view partly for the reasons quoted above, partly because of the pres- 
ence of the supposed raised platform in the orchestra. But since this plat- 
form has been discarded, only Hermann’s arguments are left in support of the 
view. 

2 We have already discussed the instances in the Plutus, Ion and Birds, pp. 21, 
23 and 25. Niejahr, Quaes. Arist. Scaen., p. 28 and Comment. Scaen., p. 5, thinks 
that this occurs only in chariot-scenes. 

8 In the Agamemnon from 728 to 1294 (A. Miiller), in Troades from 569 
to 789 (Schénborn). 


Edward Capps. 


” \ ἢ ᾽ " 4 
ὄρνιθα μὲν τόνδ᾽ αἴσιον ποιούμεθα 
, % / 
τὸν σόν TE χρηστὸν Kal λόγων εὐφημίαν " 
* * * το * 
> > > / 
ἄλλ, ὀχημάτων 
ἔξω πορεύεθ᾽ ἃς φέρω φερνὰς κόρῃ, 
\ ’ > > / > / 
Kal πέμπετ᾽ εἰς μέλαθρον εὐλαβούμενοι. 
? > A \ 
σὺ δ᾽, ὦ τέκνον μοι, λεῖπε πωλικοὺς ὄχους, 
ἁβρὸν τιθεῖσα κῶλον ἀσθενές θ᾽ ἅμα. 
e a \ , / > / x” 
ὑμεῖς δὲ νεάνιδές νιν ἀγκάλαις ἔπι 
, Ἢ ΄ x > > t 
δέξασθε καὶ πορεύσατ᾽ ἐξ ὀχημάτων. 


Schénborn (p. 231 ff.) has shown that even if we follow Din- 
dorf in rejecting the verses by the chorus (598-606) as an 
interpolation, we are still obliged to understand the words of 
Clytemnestra, ὑμεῖς δὲ νεάνιδες, as addressed to the choreutae, 
whom she has just thanked for their-kind offer. The fact 
that their services were offered and accepted in this way, 
which would require that the choreutae should go upon the 
“stage, combined with the additional awkwardness of hav- 
ing a chariot and horses upon a high and narrow platform, is 
enough to establish the view of Schénborn that the chariot 
here, and consequently everywhere, entered by the orchestra. 
Accepting this view therefore, Clytemnestra, Iphigenia, and 
the servants who accompanied them passed from orchestra 
to “stage” in the Iphigenia at Aulis; in the Agamemnon 
905 ff, Agamemnon and Cassandra; in the Electra (Eur.) 
998, Clytemnestra and her maids; in the Troades 568 ff., An- 
dromache and Astyanax.! If this view is not taken, then 
the chorus in the Iphigenia must go upon the “stage” in 
order to assist Iphigenia, —fully as difficult a movement, sup- 
posing that the “stage” were high, as the other’view would 
involve, by which six actors with their attendants would 
mount the “stage.” From Persians 607 ff.: 


τουγὰρ κέλευθον τήνδ᾽ ἄνευ τ᾽ ὀχημάτων 
χλιδῆς τε τῆς πάροιθεν ἐκ δόμων πάλιν 
ἔστειλα, 


1 Schénborn, p. 237, endeavors to show that they do not descend from the 
chariot at all, 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 29 


we infer that Atossa, when she enters (at 159), is borne on a 
chariot, making a possible fifth instance under this head; and 
from I0OI, τροχηλάτοισιν σκηναῖς, that Xerxes enters in this 
way. Since chariots enter the orchestra, the ἁμαξήρης τρίβος 
(Orest. 1251) would also pass through the orchestra,! and 
actors appearing on asses or horses should properly ride into 
the orchestra; therefore we may decide that in the orchestra 
appear Ismene in Oedipus at Colonus 310 (cf. 313 ἐπὶ πώλου), 
and Xanthias in the first act of the Frogs. 


6. Assembly Scenes. In three plays of Aristophanes, 
the Acharnians, Ecclesiazusae, and Thesmophoriazusae, we 
find scenes in imitation of the public assemblies of the Athe- 
nians, Clearly intended to be as realistic as such burlesques 
could be. The place of assembly is provided with seats for 
the citizens (Ach. 42, Thes. 292) and with the βῆμα for the 
speakers (Ecc. 104) ; the usual officers are present, — πρυτά- 
vets (Ach. 40), τοξόται (Ach. 54), κήρυκες (Ach. 43, Thes. 
295); the regular forms of the ἐκκλησία are employed, — 
the purification (Ecc. 128), the prayer (Thes. 295), the read- 
ing of the προβούλευμα (Thes. 372), the call for speakers 
(Ach. 45, Ecc. 130, Thes. 379), the putting on of the speaker’s 
chaplet (Ecc. 122, 131, Thes. 380) ; formal speeches are deliv- 
ered, and the adjournment announced (Ach. 173). From a 
comparison of these plays we are enabled to form a fairly 
correct idea of the manner in which these representations 
were given, and of the movements of the participants. In 
two, the Ecclesiazusae and Thesmophoriazusae, the chorus 
form the body of the assembly; hence it is clear that, as we 
should naturally suppose, the open and commodious space of 
the orchestra was the place of assembly. The speaker’s 
stand would be near the wall of the scene, so that the 
speaker should face the audience in the theatre and become 
in reality an actor, and must therefore have been on the 


1 Cited wrongly therefore by Miiller (p. 126) as bringing the chorus on the 
“stage.” The chariot of the Oceanides in the Prometheus and that of Athene 
in the Eumenides do not belong in this discussion, inasmuch as they come down 
from above. 


30 Edward Capps. [1891. 


“stage.” In accordance with this view we find that the only 
actors in the first 280 verses of the Ecclesiazusae, in which 
we have a mimic assembly, become with their attendants the 
chorus,! and leave the scene singing a choral ode. The one 
who plays the leading part in the piece seems to be also 
the coryphaeus (cf. 491 ἡ στρατηγός), leading the chorus as 
they march out to the ἐκκλησία. On the other hand, in the 
Acharnians, Dicaeopolis, the principal actor, has a part that 
is always distinct from that of the chorus; yet, after ex- 
amining the other two plays, we cannot doubt that he took 
his seat in the orchestra as a member of the assembly, and 
that he did not go upon the “stage”—that is, the usual 
position for actors — until the assembly was dismissed. He 
then crossed it to enter his house in the background? Cf. 


202: 


1 That the women who form the chorus come from the houses in the scene 
and from the wings, we have shown, p- 9. When, moreover, we consider that 
this was a street scene, it becomes evident that these were the only directions 
from which they could come without introducing inconsistency. See on this 
point p. 62. Niejahr, De Poll. loco, p. VII, contends that those who take part 
in the assembly scene of the Ecclesiazusae are actors, and therefore on the 
“stage,” and that no chorus appears until 285, because the women of the mimic 
assembly, when about to leave in 280, say that others “ from the country ” will 
appear at the ecclesia; that the women who sing the choral passage 285-310 
speak of themselves in 300 as from the country, and hence are those predicted in 
280. If this is true, the chorus appear in 285 and disappear in 310, —a thing 
unheard of in extant plays. Niejahr is inconsistent also; for he insists (p. viIt) 
that in the Thesmophoriazusae the assembly scene takes place in the orchestra 
and yet denies it for the Ecclesiazusae. 

2 Harzmann, p. 56, reaches this conclusion because of the numbers that would 
otherwise be brought upon the stage; see Ρ. 57: 

8 Droysen, Quaes. de Arist. re scaen., Ρ- 10, after having proved conclusively that 
Aristophanes regularly uses εἰς-ἰέναι-ἔρχεσθαι, etc., with the meaning of “enter the 
house” in the background of the scene, tries to make an exception of εἰσιών in 
this passage, on the ground that Dicaeopolis was going to celebrate the rural Dio- 
nysia. He would translate it “domum ibo.” But in 240 the chorus uses the verb 
ἐξέρχεται at the reappearance of Dicaeopolis, which Droysen has also shown to 
mean always “ come out of the house.” Moreover, the two other exceptional uses 
of εἰσιέναι that he cites, Pax 427 and Lys. 246, are also best taken in their usual 
meaning (see note p. 76). Muhl, Symbolae, p- It, proves conclusively that here, 
as often in Aristophanes, the same scenery is used in two successive acts without 
change, it being left to the spectators to imagine the change of scene from the 
words of the actors. 


ἱ 
| 


Vol. xxii.] Lhe Greek Stage. 


¥ \ > 3 \ > \ 4 
ἄξω τὰ κατ᾽ ἀγροὺς εἰσιὼν Διονύσια. 


This is made certain by comparison with the Thesmophoria- 
zusae. There Mnesilochus, the principal actor in the play, 
disguised as a woman, goes into the orchestra and takes his 
seat among the women who constitute the assembly and 
who are the chorus. Soon he goes forward to the βῆμα 
and addresses the assembly (466) precisely as two women of 
the chorus had done before him. So too in the Ecclesiazu- 
sae members of the chorus go forward and address the 
assembly, returning then to their seats. 

The results then of our study of this feature of these 
three? plays are as follows. An actor in the Acharnians\ 
appears first in the orchestra, remains through 200 verses, 
and then enters the house in the background. In the Ec-. 
clesiazusae the women who go through the forms of an) 
assembly before the spectators, come from the houses in the 
rear and take seats in the orchestra, with the exception of 
their leader Praxagora, the ἐπιστάτης of the meeting, and 
there they begin to practise the forms of an assembly (cf. 57 
and 121). One speaker after another goes forward to the 
regular place for the actors, speaks, and again retires into 
the orchestra. Finally they all leave the scene, Praxagora at 
their head. She also then must have gone into the orchestra. 
On their return she goes again upon the “ stage,” and thence- 
forward is only an actor. In the Thesmophoriazusae the 
chorus seem to come from the temple, as does also the 
herald, and enter the orchestra to form the assembly. Mne- 
silochus, hitherto an actor, goes into the orchestra before 
them and takes his seat as one of them (cf. 292); with others 
he goes forward and speaks. That he then returns to the 
orchestra is shown by the fact that he is soon attacked by 
the chorus, who are still there (cf. 567 ff.). He seems to re- 


1 Geppert, l.c. p. 163, says: ‘ Die ganze Scene von 295 an spielt offenbar in 
der Orchestra, indem die einzelnen Redner (383, 443, 466) wie bei Volksversamm- 
lungen die Biihne besteigen.” Droysen, l.c. p. 68, denies this without reason. 

2 The meeting and discussion of the women in the early part of the Lysistrata 


\ is so similar to the portion of the Ecclesiazusae above cited that it might almost 


be added to these three, but the forms of an assembly are entirely wanting. 


32 Edward Capps. [1891. 


main there until 689, when he flees to the altar, which was 
presumably near the door of the Thesmophorium (see p. 35). 


ον a \ , - A Φ > A Ἂ 
Γυνή α΄. ἃ ποῖ σὺ φεύγεις ; οὗτος οὗτος οὐ μενεῖς ; 
* * * * * * 


> ’ sO? 53 \ “ / e 
Mr”. ἀλλ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ ἐπὶ TOV μηρίων KTE. 


Since the further action of the piece was on the “ stage,” we 
may be sure that the altar was located where we have sup- 
posed. During this assembly scene Clisthenes enters, with 
the information that a man is in the midst of them disguised 
as awoman. He goes into the orchestra to examine all who 
are there. Laying hold of Mnesilochus he says, 617: 


lal κ / 
οὐ βαδιεῖ δεῦρ᾽ ws ἐμέ; 
Μ νη. τί δῆτά w ἕλκεις ἀσθενοῦσαν ; 


In the following verses he helps to strip Mnesilochus, finally 
leaving the now broken-up assembly through one of the wings. 


7. Search Scenes. In four plays the chorus seem to trav- 
erse the whole available space of the scene in their search 
for an actor, who twice is at length found upon the “stage 7 
at the altar. This is the case at the end of the assembly 
scene just described in the Thesmophoriazusae, where it is 
the poet’s device for breaking up the formal assembly and 
merging it into the main action of the play. After Mnesilo- 
chus, on the information of Clisthenes, is discovered disguised 
as a woman in his seat in the orchestra, the chorus scour the 
entire region to see that no other man is in hiding among 


them. Cf. 657 ff. (the entire passage): 


a 3 3 / \ , 

ξητεῖν, εἴ που κἄλλος τις ἀνὴρ ἐσελήλυθε, καὶ περιθρέξαι 
᾽ ͵ a ὶ τὰ 2 ὶ τὰς διόδου 

τὴν πύκνα πᾶσαν καὶ τὰς σκηνὰς καὶ τὰς OLO ς 

διαθρῆσαι. 

’ \ A 3 A ’ 
εἶα δὴ πρώτιστα μὲν χρὴ κοῦφον ἐξορμᾶν πόδα 
καὶ διασκοπεῖν σιωπῇ πανταχῇ: 
* * * “ * 


ἀλλ᾽ ἔοιχ᾽ ἡμῖν ἅπαντά πως διεσκέφθαι Karas. 
lal ~ / 
οὐχ ὁρῶμεν γοῦν ἐτ᾽ ἄλλον οὐδέν᾽ ἐγκαθήμενον. 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 33 


When these last words were spoken they had completed their 
circuit (cf. 662 τρέχειν κύκλῳ). We cannot suppose that in 
their zeal they would leave an inch of ground unexamined. 
Mnesilochus had taken advantage of their absence and di- 
verted attention to seize the child of one of them and to take 
his stand at the altar, as described above. One or more 
follow him and guard him, probably until the arrival of the 
Prytanis, 929. When they are about to kindle a fire about 
him (726 ff.), and when he cuts the wine-skin and one of the 
women holds a bowl below, some at least of the chorus are 
very near him. Even during the parabasis it is evidently the 
presence of the chorus that prevents any attempt to escape, 
since only one woman was left to guard him (762). 

In the Oedipus at Colonus the chorus on their entrance 
search carefully for the intruder in the sacred grove. Cf. 
117 ff.: 

Xo. λεύσατ᾽ αὐτόν" προσδέρκου, 
προσπεύθου πανταχῇ. 
- * * 
Ov ἐγὼ λεύσσων 
περὶ πᾶν οὔπω δύναμαι τέμενος 
γνῶναι ποῦ μοί ποτε ναίει. 


They would leave no spot untraversed except the ground 
of the sacred enclosure itself. Oedipus, who shows himself 
immediately after the words just quoted, probably does not 
appear until the chorus are in a position to see him, i.e. until 
they had reached in their search the ἀντίπετρος βῆμα (192) 
which bounded the sacred enclosure. 

Very similar is Eumenides 244 ff. The Furies are track- 
ing Orestes by the blood-stains on the ground. They must 
enter the scene over precisely the same route that Orestes. 
had taken, if we are to interpret strictly their words: 


ΪΞ rar9 \ . \ 5. \ , 

εἶεν " TOO ἐστὶ τἀνδρὸς ἐκφανὲς τέκμαρ. 
er \ a > A - 
ἕπου δὲ μηνυτῆρος ἀφθέγκτου φραδαῖς. 
τετραυματισμένον γὰρ ὡς κύων νεβρὸν 


Ν 4 
πρὸς αἷμα Kal σταλαγμὸν ἐκματεύομεν, 


that is, we have another violation of Hermann’s rule that 


34 Ldward Capps. [189r. 


actors must not enter through the orchestra. At any rate 
the chorus search over the entire scene. Cf. 265: 5. ; 


“ oa ~ 3 > la , / \ 
Opa opa “ar av λεῦσσέ TE πάντα, μὴ 
λάθῃ φύγδα Bas patpoddvos ἀτίτας. 


When at length they discover him they seem to be on the 
“stage” near Orestes, who is hiding behind the statue! of 
Athene. We have seen (p. 13) that they depart with the 
actors at the close of the piece. During the trial scene, 
between this and the closing scene, we may reasonably 
believe that they remained near Orestes as his accusers and 
prosecutors, 

The sailors in the Ajax, as they set out in opposite direc- 
tions in search of their chieftain (805 ff.), so appear again 
from different directions (865). They are still searching for 
Ajax, when they hear indistinctly his fall (870), and soon 
the cry of Tecmessa (891), who, though she had gone more 
slowly (810), had found him first. She is still at some dis- 
tance, for her cry is but faintly heard (892) and she herself 
is not seen immediately. Soon the choreutae come nearer, 
and ask what is her trouble (897). She points to the body of 
Ajax, which they now see for the first time (898 Alas ὅδε 
κεῖται. ‘They are not near enough, however, to understand 
the whole situation (905). Coming nearer, they ask to see 
Ajax, but Tecmessa has covered him and refuses to let 
him be seen (915 ff. οὔτοι θεατός xré). From this point the 
body of Ajax is the central point of the action. It would 
therefore be in the part called the “stage,” and so far back 
as to be scarcely visible even to the nearest spectators. 
The choreutae, then, are on the ‘“‘stage’’ when they ask 
to see the body, just as Teucer is when he makes the 
same request® (1003). They sing with Tecmessa lamenta- 


1 Cf. Niejahr De Poll. loc., p. xvi: “In scena, ante ipsum templum illam 
statuam positam esse demonstratur eo quod chorus Furiarum in orchestram 
ingressus matricidam non statim conspicit, sed adesse eum praesentiens ad 
indagandum eum se cohortatur.” 

* That dead bodies were always seen near the rear wall of the scene is shown 
by Niejahr, De Poll. loc., p. xrv. 

8 This request of Teucer was probably addressed to the chorus — another 


Vol. xxii. ] lhe Greek Stage. 5 


tions! over the body, and when Teucer leaves he bids them 
stand by to protect it.2 1182 ff.: 


e “- \ a ’ a 
ὑμεῖς τε μὴ γυναῖκες ἀντ᾽ ἀνδρῶν πέλας 


,ὕ ᾽ b] ie / > 3 BS ὧν \ 4 
παρέστατ, ἀλλ᾿ ἀρηγετ, ES T ἐγὼ μόλω 


τάφου μεληθεὶς τῷδε, κἂν μηδεὶς ἐᾷ, 


We have seen that at the close of the play they help to bear 
out the body. 

It seems probable that we havea similar situation in the 
following passage from the Hecabe, although it is the actor 
here, rather than the chorus, who makes the search. Within 
the palace Hecabe and her attendants have put out the eyes 
of Polymnestor and have killed his two children, She her- 
self comes from the palace, and seeing him breaking the 
doors and forcing his way out she avoids him, probably hid.- 
ing in one of the passages, 1054 ff. ; 


3 + 4 \ 54 > / 
ἀλλ᾽ ἐκποδὼν ἄπειμι καποστήσομαι 


θυμῷ ζέοντι Θρῃκὶ δυσμαχωτάτῳ. 


Since Polymnestor is eagerly searching for the women who 
injured him, he would traverse all the accessible space, going 
even into the orchestra (cf. 1000, 65, and 70), following the 
sound of their footsteps (1070). As soon as he hears their 
voice (1085), he shouts for help and goes in pursuit (1099 ποῖ 
τράπωμαι; ποῖ πορευθῶ;). We see at a glance that a scene 
like this precludes the possibility of a raised stage. But any 
other action than that we have described would be tame in 
comparison with the natural suggestions of the context. 


8. Altar Scenes. The altars of the gods, which were 
near the front of the palace,? were the place of refuge for 


proof of their presence, So Schneidewin-Nauck, note ad loc. For the oppos- 
ing view see Piderit, Scenische Analysis des Soph. Dramas Ajas, p. 39. 

1 Those who lament over dead bodies should always be together; cf. Sept. ad 
fin, Compare the pouring of libations in Cho., Pers., and Iph. Taur.; see p. 45. 

2 Schénborn, p. 259, gives all these arguments, strengthened also by v. 892, if 
πάραυλος may mean ἐγγύς, but still holds to the opposite view. His principal 
objection seems to be the supposed difficulty of mounting the stage. 

3 Almost all scholars who have adhered to the old view of the stage place the 
altars and images of the gods always on the stage. But all the arguments given 


TE Pe cre een te cate. 5.05 9 


36 Edward Capps. [189r. 


those in distress or danger. Orestes in the Eumenides seeks 
protection at the altar of Athene, and the children of Heracles 
in the play of Euripides at the altar of Zeus, —in both cases 
actors. When those who seek protection are members of the 
chorus, as in three plays, then they must of necessity pass over 
the boundary between “stage” and orchestra. The Danaids 
in the Suppliants of Aeschylus sing the first stasimon in the 
orchestra. At the approach of strangers, Danaus directs 
them to seek the altars near him, 188 ff.: 


’ 5 
ἄμεινόν ἐστι παντὸς οὕνεκ᾽, ὦ κόραι, 
πάγον προσίζειν τόνδ᾽ ἀγωνίων θεῶν. 
, \ U / 
κρείσσων δὲ πύργου βωμὸς, ἄρρηκτον σάκος. 
» > € / A 
ἀλλ᾽ ὡς τάχιστα Bate. 


Cf. also 208 : 
Xo. θέλοιμ᾽ av ἤδη σοὶ πέλας θρόνους ἔχειν, 


to which Danaus replies μή νυν σχόλαζε. The chorus remain 
at the altars until 516 (circ.). The king asks them to leave 
their suppliant boughs there (αὐτοῦ) and to go back to their 
former place in the orchestra (λευρὸν ἄλσος) ; cf. 506 ff. : 


, \ » lal A an / 
κλάδους μὲν αὐτοῦ λεῖπε, σημεῖον πόνου. 
- * * * * 


λευρὸν κατ᾽ ἄλσος νῦν ἐπιστρέφου τόδε. 
Χο. καὶ πῶς βέβηλον ἄλσος ἂν ῥύοιτό με; 


Their fears are soon allayed and they obey, singing the 
second stasimon immediately following from their usual sta- 
tion. Again, in 832, they flee to the altars to escape the her- 
ald of the sons of Aegyptus. The word ἀλκή in the cry of 
the chorus, βαῖνε φυγᾷ πρὸς ἀλκάν, is to be interpreted by 
the previous commands of Danaus in verses 731 ff. and 773 
ff., as well as by the words of the herald (852), reid’ ἕδρανα. 
We have already seen that the chorus make their final exit 
together with Danaus. 


in favor of this (see Niejahr, De Poll. loc., p. 1x) prove only that they were near 
the rear wall of the scene, i.e. in the part of the orchestra most distant from the 
spectators, according to Dérpfeld’s view. 


Vol. xxii.] ‘ The Greek Stage. 37 


The action of the chorus in the Septem is similar. The 
sound of the approaching army fills them with alarm, and 
they flee to the altars of the gods, οὐ ff.: 


7\ , vy ἊΣ ᾿] ’ ’ὔ 
ἰὼ μάκαρες εὕὔεδροι, ἀκμάζει βρετέων 
»” / 4 > / 

ἔχεσθαι. τί μέλλομεν ἀγάστονοι; 


Eteocles sends them back again to the orchestra, 265 ff. : 


> \ 4S 3 J / 
ἐκτὸς οὖσ ἀγαλμάτων 
\ 
εὔχου τὰ κρείσσω. 


We must suppose:that they obey, for they at once begin the 
first stasimon.1 Of the opening scene of Euripides’s Suppli- 
ants we have already spoken (p. 8). 


g. Chorus called to Palace — Libation Scenes, etc. It is 
a very frequent occurrence for the chorus, whose usual sta- 
tion was in the orchestra, but near by the palace (see p. 55), 
to be called into the palace by actors. Often the chorus de- 
cide, after debate or consultation, to answer the call; again 
they refuse through fear; but in no case do they actually 
carry out their intention of going inside, being checked by 
some circumstance, such as the arrival of a new actor, while 
approaching the house. In five plays, however, I think 
it can be shown that the choreutae advance to a position near 
the doors of the house, and therefore go upon the “stage.” 

In the Ajax, Tecmessa comes out of the tent and asks the 
chorus of sailors to try to calm her lord. Cf. 328 ff. : 


ἀλλ᾽, ὦ φίλοι, τούτων yap οὕνεκ᾽ ἐστάλην, 
ἀρήξατ᾽ εἰσελθόντες, εἰ δύνασθέ τι. 


They accordingly quit the orchestra. When on the “stage” 
near the tent they ask that the door be opened (344), to 
which Tecmessa replies : 


ἰδού, duoiyw* προσβλέπειν δ᾽ ἔξεστί σοι 
τὰ τοῦδε πράγη, καὐτὸς ὡς ἔχων κυρεῖ. 


1 «Saepius hoc fit in fabulis, ut si quid aut chorus aut actores facere jubeantur, 
id ei efficere putandi sint, tametsi hoc ipsum verbis non est indicatum.” Niejahr 


De Poll. loco, p. 111. 


38 Edward Capps. . [1891. 


They remain there for some time with Ajax. At last he 
orders the doors closed (cf. 579-81 and 93), and despairing 
of ever diverting him from his purpose, they go back again 
to their position. They are in the orchestra at the beginning 
of the next stasimon. In this passage the poet had good 
reason for allowing the chorus to carry out their intention. 
Ajax, sitting in the midst of the slaughtered sheep, sur- 
rounded by blood and filth, could not be shown in all his 
misery to the spectators. It was enough that these should 
have an account of these revolting details from others. We 
notice that the chorus describe all that they see with min- 
uteness of detail; they were where they could see what the 
spectators could not see.! 

So in the Agamemnon. After long discussion the cho- 
reutae decide to go to the aid of Agamemnon after they have 
heard his cries from within. At once Clytemnestra comes 
out. It is too late to aid the hero, but the poet’s purpose is 
accomplished, and the chorus is on the “stage,”? grouped 
about the open door of the palace, looking at the bodies of 
the slain. There are many indications that the bodies are 
in sight of the chorus (e.g. 1405, 1581, etc.), but none that 
they were seen by the whole theatre. On the contrary, the 
chorus is brought near the palace for the very purpose of 
making it unnecessary that the whole spectacle should be 
seen by the audience. The aesthetic taste which required 
that such scenes should be enacted out of the sight of the 
spectators would surely demand that they should remain out 
of sight as far as possible. The chorus was probably in the 
orchestra again at the beginning of the commos, 1447 ff. 

Similarly in the Hippolytus one semi-chorus is inclined 
to go into the house where Phaedra is attempting to take 
her own life, 782 f. : 


1 It is a widely accepted view that in this and some of the following scenes 
the eccyclema was employed to show the bodies, and that the chorus need not 
have been upon the stage, but Neckel, Das Ekkyklema, Prog. Gym. Fried. 1890, 
has proved that this machine was not used in any of the extant tragedies, except 
in the Heracles (and this seems to me to be very doubtful). We may follow 
therefore the natural suggestions of the plays as to the movements of the chorus. 

2 So Wecklein, note ad loc. 


Vol. xxii. ] Lhe Greek Stage. 


Λ / a xX A “ 
φίλαι, τί δρῶμεν ; ἢ δοκεῖ περᾶν δόμους 

“ / > Υσ a / 
λῦσαι T ἄνασσαν ἐξ ἐπισπαστῶν βρόχων; 


In 788, before they could have gone far, they infer from the 
words of the nurse, who is inside the palace, that Phaedra is 
dead. There was no longer reason for their going in. But 
they had already advanced toward the house, for they clearly 
hear the nurse’s commands within the house, and speak of 
themselves as “just arrived at the house” when Theseus 
questions them about the outcry. Cf. 790 ff. : 


al ΕΣ / 5 b] / ’ 
γυναῖκες, ἰστε τίς TOT ἐν δόμοις βοή; 
Υ͂ an 7 , \ > / 
Xo. τοσοῦτον ἴσμεν" ἄρτι γὰρ κἄγω δόμοις, 


Θησεῦ, πάρειμι σῶν κακῶν πενθήτρια. 


Then the body of Phaedra is shown. It is seen by the cho- 
rus as well as by Theseus; but Hippolytus on his entrance 
does not see it until several sentences have been spoken. 
This would support the view that the spectators in general 
were not supposed to have a clear view of the body and its 
surroundings, but only those gathered immediately in front 
of it. Even if it be objected that we cannot assume that 
the chorus actually go upon the “stage,” yet it is clear that 
they are near the door, and that a difference of ten feet in 
level would make it impossible for them to see what is 
within. 

The same purpose on the part of the poet, viz.: to use the 
chorus as a means of avoiding the exhibition of a disgusting 
spectacle to the theatre, is still more obvious in the Choe- 
phori. Although the choreutae in fear keep as far as possi- 
ble from the scene of the murder (cf. 872 αποσταθῶμεν 
πράγματος), yet when the deed is done their presence is so 
desirable as a means of gaining the full dramatic effect of the 
exposure of the bodies without in reality making these clearly 
visible to the spectators, that another motive is devised by the 
poet for bringing them forward. Orestes calls upon them 


1 It is true that ἐςτείνατε may be addressed to servants, but this would not be 
so natural an interpretation. The scholiast, Wecklein, and others favor that 
given above, 


40 Edward Capps. [1891. 


to spread out to view the garment in which Agamemnon 
had been slain. Cf. 980 ff.: 


> ic A b 4 a) 
ἴδεσθε δ᾽ atte, τῶνδ᾽ ἐπήκοοι κακῶν, 
9 / > > \ \ [4 ‘ 
ἐκτείνατ᾽ αὐτὸ Kal κύκλῳ παρασταδὸν 


στεγάστρον ἀνδρὸς δείξαθ᾽, κτέ. 


They probably do not go again into the orchestra, for we 
have seen that they soon retire into the palace. 

In the Heracles, also, it appears that the choreutae advance 
to see the inside of the palace, although, so far as the text 
shows, not until the calamity has fallen. They see the palace 
tottering in 905. Soon the messenger comes out and nar- 
rates what has happened. Up to this point they have not 
seen anything inside, but from 1032 ff. they see very dis- 
tinctly all that has been described before. The natural 
inference is that, after hearing what has happened within, 
they advance to the breach in the wall and see what they 
proceed to describe. That they did approach, and so near 
that there was danger of their disturbing the sleeping Hera- 
cles, is seen from the warning of Amphitryon 1042 ff. He 
drives them away from Heracles, back into the orchestra. 


e / ; \ 
ἑκαστέρω πρόβατε, μὴ 
al \ nw 

κτυπεῖτε μὴ βοᾶτε, μὴ 

\ ie ἈΠ ee - 
τὸν εὖ T ἰαύονθ 

ς / / ’ > lal > / 
ὑπνώδεά τ᾽ εὐνᾶς ἐγείρετε. 

ζω \ ; , \ 9S / 
σῖγα, πνοὰς μάθω" φέρε πρὸς ods βάλω. 

Χο. εὕδει; 


It is to be noticed that the chorus see every detail at first; 
but when they withdraw again at the bidding of Amphitryon 
they cannot see even whether Heracles is sleeping or not, a 
circumstance which they had before easily noticed (1034). 

In these five passages it is clear that the chorus left their 
usual position in the orchestra for one nearer the door of the 
palace. Albert Miiller+ cites several others in which similar 


1 Biihnenalt., p. 127. His citations are Hipp., Bacch., Cyc., Aj., Hec., And., 
Supp. (Eur.), and Ion. Of these we claim that Hipp., Aj., and Bacch. are to 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 41 


action is proposed but not executed, as proof that, though it 
was always possible for the chorus to reach the stage from 
the orchestra, it was always inconvenient and avoided by the 
poet as much as possible. The prevention of the action is 
caused by fear on the part of the chorus, by the entrance of 
an actor, or by the direct prohibition of an actor or semi- 
chorus. A detailed examination of these passages will show 
that the poet had weightier reasons for preventing the action 
than merely to avoid an awkward situation. 

The chorus in the Hecabe seem inclined to go to the aid 
of the queen. Cf. 1042: 


Xo. βούλεσθ᾽ ἐπεισπέσωμεν ; ὡς ἀκμὴ καλεῖ 
ς - 
ExaBn παρεῖναι Tpwacw τε συμμάχους. 


But Hecabe herself at once comes out, and soon after her the 
raging Polymnestor, eager to catch any of the women within 
reach. Surely the chorus would follow the example of He- 
cabe, and get out of the way (1054 ἐκποδὼν ἄπειμι). Ac- 
cordingly we cannot expect any description of what is seen 
within the palace, and we do not find it. Except for the 
announcement by Hecabe in 1051 that the bodies of the two 
children would soon be seen, and a passing reference to them 
by Agamemnon in 1118, we should not know that they were 
seen at all. Here the poet deliberately gives up the usual 
grouping of the chorus about the dead bodies for the superior 
effects of the unique scene we have described above (see also 
p. 35). In the Medea the choreutae decide to go within the 
palace, but Jason arrives before they have yet done so, 
addressing them as γυναῖκες, αἱ τῆσδ᾽ ἐγγὺς ἕστατε στέγης 
(1293). How near they are we cannot tell, but there is 
no need of their being on the “stage” after Medea ap- 
pears above in her chariot, and so we may assume that 
they are not unusually near. In the Andromache, 817 ff, 
Hermione comes out of the house just after the chorus have 
been asked to go in to calm her. The reason for entering no 


be rejected, the two former because the action of approaching the palace was 
carried out, the last because of a misunderstanding of Miiller’s, I have added 


Med. and Ach. to the passages for discussion. 


42 Edward Capps. [1891. 


longer existed, so that it cannot be held that any difficulty in 
the action prevented its execution. The same may be said of 
Cyclops, 630 ff. The chorus of Satyrs refuse to help Odys- 
seus against Polyphemus, but the poet’s object in this was to 
make a display of their ridiculous cowardice. In the same 
play a drove of goats had been driven from the orchestra into 
the cave, showing that the act of crossing was not in itself 
inconvenient. The mothers who form the chorus in the Sup- 
pliants (Eur.) are not permitted to go forward to touch the 
dead bodies of their sons at 940 ff., but they have once before 
(815 ff.; see p. 44) been permitted to embrace them. It is 
hard to see the reason for the distinction, but it has been 
suggested that in the later passage the mothers were to do 
more than to embrace, — they expected to uncover the faces 
for a last look, —and this is forbidden on account of the foul 
condition of the bodies (cf. 944-945), which had not yet been 
washed. The reason why the chorus in the Ion, 219 ff., do 
not go into the temple (see p. 23) is perfectly good, both from 
the poet’s point of view and from that of the spectators. It 
would have been offensive to the religious feelings of the 
Athenians if these servants had been permitted to enter the 
holy shrine of Apollo from motives of idle curiosity, and 
the poet needed their presence in order to effect the meeting 
between Creusa and Ion. I need cite but one more instance 
of this kind. In the Acharnians, 564, one semi-chorus is 
about to strike Dicaeopolis, but is prevented by the other 
semi-chorus ; yet in 280 all the chorus had attacked him 
violently.! 

In all of these passages the poetic reason for the non-per- 
formance of the proposed action is strong enough and apparent 
enough to explain its prevention. Either the poet has special 
reasons for preventing the action or in the natural progress 
of the play the action was no longer necessary. Similar 
occurrences are frequent where going upon the “stage” does 
not enter into the question, as in Philoctetes 887, where the 
chorus are probably on the “stage” already ; and yet no one 


1 A. Miiller quotes also Bacch. 954 ff.; but Dionysus could not be address- 
ing the chorus, since he had not yet come out of the palace. 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 43 


has for a moment supposed in such cases that the proposed 
action was attended with especial difficulty. 

We have seen, therefore, from the very passages that 
Miiller quotes in favor of his theory of the stage, that we 
need not suppose that the poet was hampered in this way by 
the inconvenient arrangement of the theatre in which his 
dramas were to be performed, for the action would probably 
have been the same, however convenient the arrangements 
for the setting of the play might have been. But in case 
this proof should seem insufficient, we may approach the 
question from another side. Miiller would say that the stage 
was ascended by the chorus where the motive for such action 
was sufficiently strong; but that in the cases he cites the 
need is so slight that it is easier for the poet to devise an- 
other motive for the prevention of the action than to have 
the action first proposed put into effect. But how slight 15 
the evidence on which Miiller bases his theory is shown 
by the fact that in a number of other passages, although the 
motive is exceedingly slight, sometimes nothing more than 
mere curiosity, the chorus are allowed to perform the very 
action that is forbidden in the passages cited. One of these 
has already been pointed out (p. 40), Heracles 1032. There 
are two other instances in the same play. Amphitryon pro- 
poses to go where he may see the slaying of Lycus, 1.6. close 
to the door of the palace ; the chorus go with him. Ch. 747 E:: 


οὶ \ \ / " 
Χο. ἀλλ᾽ ὦ γεραιέ, καὶ τὰ δωματων ἔσω 


€ > \ 4 
σκοπῶμεν, εἰ πράσσει τις ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω. 
They return to their usual station in 760: 

Xo. σιγῶ μέλαθρα: πρὸς χοροὺς τραπώμεθα. 
Afterwards when Heracles is seen awaking, they go again 
with Amphitryon to his side. 1109-10: 

"Aw. γέροντες, ἔλθω τῶν ἐμῶν κακῶν πέλας ; 

3 : / \ \ 7 

Χο. κἄγωγε σὺν σοί, μὴ προδοὺς τὰς συμφοράς. 


From this point the chorus has no part in the play until the 
last two verses, and we cannot tell its position. It probably 


44 Edward Capps. [1891. 


returned to the orchestra, since it was needed but a short 
time for the protection of Amphitryon. 

Almost identical with Heracles 1032 ff. is Orestes 137 ff. 
Electra sees the women of the chorus approaching the bed- 
side of Orestes, and requests that they step lightly, but they 
are not quiet enough to satisfy her, and are ordered away. 
When, however, by their subdued voices they have reassured 
her, she bids them come and tell their errand, 147 ff. : 


> / A ; 
Xo. ἴδ᾽, ἀτρεμαῖον ὡς ὑπόροφον φέρω 
, > \ e/ 
Boav. “HX. vai οὕτως 
’ 7 / > 52 / > 4 7 
KaTaye κάταγε, πρόσιθ᾽ ἀτρέμας ἀτρέμας ἴθι " 
λόγον ἀπόδος ἐφ᾽ ὅ τι χρέος ἐμόλετέ ποτε. 


Before Electra speaks the last words, the choreutae have taken 
their stand where she had directed. That this station was 
very near her is proven conclusively by 170 ff. The chorus 
have seen Orestes stir on his bed, and Electra, accusing them 
of awakening him, send them away again : 


> > 9 ὦ nm > > > ¥ 
οὐκ ἀφ ἡμῶν, οὐκ AT οἴκων .. . 
/ Ἁ [ἐ 
πόδα σὸν εἱλίξεις ; 
e 7 
Xo. ὑπνώσσει. 


They calm her with this assurance, and she permits them 
to remain. But in 181 she again sends them away for being 
too noisy, and this time they obey. Cf. 208 ff.: 


eo lal ’ 
ὅρα παροῦσα, παρθέν᾽ ᾿Ηλέκτρα, πέλας, 
μὴ κατθανών σε σύγγονος λέληθ᾽ ὅδε" 
> \ 5 > / A / / 
οὐ yap μ᾽ ἀρέσκει τῷ λίαν παρειμένῳ, 


showing that they are now too far away to see that Orestes 
has awakened, yet still near enough to notice the change. 
They are probably in their usual position when the lyric 
passage (316 ff.) is given. 

Adrastus in Euripides’s Suppliants has the dead bodies of 
the six leaders brought upon the stage. The mothers of the 
dead form the chorus. They ask to be permitted to embrace 
the bodies of their sons, and Adrastus grants it. Cf. 815 ff.: 


Vol. xxii. ] The Greek Stage. 


Xo. 600, ws περιπτυχαῖσι δὴ 
χέρας προσαρμόσασ᾽ ἐμοῖς 
ἐν ἀγκῶσι τέκνα θῶμαι. 


"Ad. ἔχεις ἔχεις. 


We have seen that soon after this they are probably back 
again in the orchestra, for Theseus forbids their uncovering 
and touching the bodies. 

The Trojan sentinels in the Rhesus go from their posts in 
the orchestra to Hector’s tent, seen in the background, and 
wake him. 1 ff.: 


Xo. Bau πρὸς εὐνὰς 
τὰς Extopéous τις ὑπασπιστῶν. 
* + * - 
λεῖπε χαμεύνας φυλλοστρώτους, 
/ / / 4 
δέξαι Te νέων κληδόνα μύθων, 
“Extop* καιρὸς γὰρ ἀκοῦσαι. 


It seems that they remain here, ie. on the “stage,” until 
ordered back to their posts in 523: 


ς a \ , \ \ / 
ὑμᾶς δὲ βάντας χρὴ προταινὶ τάξεων 
φρουρεῖν ἐγερτὶ KTE. 


That this station, προταινὶ τάξεων, was in the orchestra is 
shown by the opening scene of the play and by the scene 
immediately following the passage last cited. 

The chorus in the Choephori, the Persians, and the Iphi- 
genia among the Taurians assist in pouring libations at the 
tomb of the dead by handing the bowl to the actor in the 
last-named play, and in all by chanting as the offering is 
made. It was this fact in the Choephori that convinced 
Hermann! that the tomb was on the margin of the stage, 
since Electra and the chorus are together during the liba- 
tion, as they have been from the time they came from the 
palace. The chorus are sent out as χοᾶν προπομπός (23), 
and are asked by Electra to sing as she pours, 150: 


1 De re scen. in Aesch. Orest., p. 9: “Non est dubitandum quin sepulcrum 


Agamemnonis in margine proscenii sit.” 


46 Edward Capps. [1891. 


\ al , ; ΕΥ̓͂ 
ὑμᾶς δὲ κωκυτοῖς ἐπανθίζειν νομος. 


After the libation Electra finds the lock of hair on the tomb. 
That the chorus do not see the hair at first does not prove 
that they are not near by, as some have claimed. Electra 
has ascended the steps of the altar. Upon this, out of the 
sight of the chorus, the lock is found. In the Persians, 
Atossa in like manner calls for the chants of the chorus 
while she pours the libation on the tomb of Darius (619). 
When the shade of Darius appears, it addresses the choreutae 
first, 681, not seeing Atossa until 684. 


3 a e/ 95 ὦ 95. κα 
ὦ πιστὰ πιστῶν ἥλικες θ᾽ ἥβης ἐμῆς 
Πέρσαι γεραιοὶ κτὲ. 

4 a. \ > \ / > 
λεύσσων δ᾽ ἄκοιτιν τὴν ἐμὴν τάφου πέλας 

nw \ 93 / 

ταρβῶ, χοὰς δὲ mpevpevns ἐδεξάμην. 

A \ a \ e n / e 
ὑμεῖς δὲ θρηνεῖτ᾽ ἐγγὺς ἑστῶτες τάφου KTE. 


His wife is πέλας, the choreutae, ἐγγύς. That he turns 
from one to the other so readily in his speech proves that 
they are near together and both on the side of the tomb 
toward the spectators —for Darius would not turn his back 


to these. | 
The chorus of Greek maidens in the Taurian Iphigenia 


are the attendants of Iphigenia, given her by the king for the 
temple-service. Cf. 63 ff. : 


A ᾽ ἄν. ad A 
‘Id. σὺν προσπόλοισιν, as ἔδωχ᾽ ἡμῖν ἄναξ 
/ A > πο > / 
“Ἑλληνίδας γυναῖκας. ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ αἰτίας 
οὔπω τίνος πάρεισιν; 


When these arrive, Iphigenia proceeds to carry out her pur- 
pose of making libations to Orestes. In the course of the 
passage beginning ἰὼ duwai, addressed to the chorus imme- 
diately after their parodos, she asks them for the vessel and 
libation, 167 ff.: 


ἀλλ᾽ Evdos μοι πάγχρυσον 
τεῦχος καὶ λοιβὰν “Αιδα. 


It would be forcing this passage excessively to suppose 
these words to be addressed to any but the chorus, and 


Vol. xxii.] lhe Greek Stage. 47 


furthermore the two similar passages quoted favor this inter- 
pretation.! 

We have seen therefore that in the case of the non- 
performance of the proposed action of entering the palace, 
(1) in five instances the chorus advance to a position near 
the palace; (2) in the others a satisfactory motive for the 
action as we have it is apparent; and further (3) that the 
same action which is proposed in these passages is often car- 
ried into execution, however slight the motive may be, show- 
ing that there was no obstacle in the arrangement of the 
theatre. Miiller’s arguments based upon these passages con- 
sequently cannot stand. 


10. Encounters between Actors and Chorus. Striking, 
and also clearly indicated by the text, are the instances of 
actual conflict between actors and chorus. The course of 
action in these passages is generally recognized, and the dis- 
cussion of them may therefore be brief. 

After the chorus in the Suppliants of Aeschylus, 832 ff., have 
taken refuge at the altars, the Herald arrives and attempts 
to drag them away by violence (909). The chorus attack 
Aegisthus with swords in Agamemnon 1650 ff., before the 
intervention of Clytemnestra. So, too, in Acharnians 280 ff, 
the choreutae attack Dicaeopolis with stones as he marches 
across the scene. They are so close upon him that he can- 
not turn and flee (see p. 73). Euelpides and his companion 
are charged upon by the chorus in Birds 344 ff., but Epops 
interferes and persuades the latter to retire (400). In the 
Knights (see 247, 257, and 471) the Paphlagonian is assaulted. 
The chorus are still on the “stage” in 490 ff., for they give 
oil and garlic to the Sausage-seller. XKanthias and Bdelycleon 
in Wasps 453 ff. find considerable difficulty in beating back 
the chorus of wasps. 

The chorus in the Rhesus leave the scene in the midst of 
the play. On their re-entrance, representing now the relief 


1 Further evidence that the choreutae are with the actors in these libation 
scenes is furnished by the lamentation scene, Aj. 910-975, in which for other 
reasons the chorus must be by the side of the corpse. 


ΝΣ ae tht Sa om ei NN AI ES ay 


ἀν τὸν τ δ πο οὗ 


έν συ Me NCE 


Waar 


48 Edward Capps. [1891. 


guard, they fall upon Diomedes and Odysseus, take them 
captive, and finally let them go again. Cf. 675 ff.: 


Xo. βάλε Bare Bare Bare 
Oéve Oéve . 
τούσδ᾽ ἔχω, τούσδ᾽ ἔμαρψα. 
* * * * 
καὶ τί δὴ TO σῆμα; 


08. Φοῖβος. Χο. ἔμαθον" ἴσχε πᾶς δόρυ. 


They probably then return to their usual position. 

The chorus in Helen, 1627 ff., hold Theoclymenus by the 
garments to keep him from entering the house and killing 
his sister. In the Oedipus at Colonus they hold Creon, who 
with his attendants is carrying off Antigone, until the arrival 
of Theseus. This is made clear from the text, 724 ff.: 


1) Λ e A 3 \ 
Oecd. ὦ φίλτατοι γέροντες, ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐμοὶ 
/ > a / 
φαίνοιτ᾽ ἂν ἤδη τέρμα τῆς σωτηρίας. 
Χο. θάρσει, παρέσται. 


Cf. 856 ff. also: 
Xo. ἐπίσχες αὐτοῦ, ξεῖνε. Kp. μὴ ψαύειν λέγω. 
Χο. οὔτοι σ᾽ ἀφήσω, τῶνδέ γ᾽ ἐστερημένος. 


From this point the chorus have little part in the play. 
They probably remain in the orchestra. 


There is a scene very similar to this in the early part of 


the Heracleidae, and although the action is less animated 
and the words of the text less decisive than in the Oedipus, 
the general similarity is close enough to warrant the same 


interpretation. Cf. 270 ff.: 


κλαίων ἄρ᾽ ἅψει τῶνδε κοὐκ és ἀμβολάς. 
μὴ πρὸς θεῶν κήρυκα τολμήσῃς θενεῖν. 

εἰ μή γ᾽ ὁ κῆρυξ σωφρονεῖν μαθήσεται. 
ἄπελθε" καὶ σὺ τοῦδε μὴ θίγης, ἄναξ. 
στείχω " μιᾶς γὰρ χειρὸς ἀσθενὴς μάχη. 


The last verse makes the inference easy that Copreus saw 
opposing him and ready to attack him not only Demophon, 


Vol. xxii.] Lhe Greek Stage. 49 


but also the choreutae. That the latter were in fact on the 
“stage” is made certain by 307 ff., where Iolaus tells his 
wards to join right hands with the Athenians in token of 
gratitude and lasting friendship.1 


ae 9 7 > ] 3 a a \ ἤ 
δότ᾽, ὦ τέκν᾽, αὐτοῖς χεῖρα δεξιὰν δότε 
ς “Ὁ \ / \ , , 
ὑμεῖς δὲ παισί, καὶ πέλας προσέλθετε. 


The last verse, or at least the first half of it, must have been 
addressed to the chorus. 

With these encounters between actors and chorus we 
Should class Lysistrata 381 ff. The chorus of women come 
out of the citadel against the chorus of men, who are trying 
to set the citadel afire. The chorus of women therefore 
for the time being represent an actor. When the men 
threaten to burn them, they respond by drenching them 
with water. 


Pep. ἔμπρησον αὐτῆς τὰς κόμας. Τυν. σὸν ἔργον ὥχελῷε. 
Γερ. οἴμοι τάλας. 


They must have been together on the same level at this 
point. The old men are driven back from the citadel. The 
chorus of women soon follow, going into the orchestra, as 
is shown by 530 ff.: 


5) / » 4 A iS, A ε " 
UTAlpeT ὦ γυναίκες ἀπὸ τῶν καλπίδων, ὅπως ἂν 
> oe / 3 a a Λ 

ἐν τῷ μέρει χημεῖς τι ταῖς φίλαισι συλλάβωμεν. 


Therefore the drenching scene took place upon the “stage,” 
at the gates of the citadel. Both choruses are together in 
the orchestra from this point until the close of the play (cf. 
615 ff. and 1020 ff., and pp. 11 and IQ).? 


΄ 


1 The action here is as clear as O. C. 1632 ff.: δός μοι χερὸς σῆς πίστιν ἀρχαίαν 
τέκνοις, ὑμεῖς τε, παῖδες, τῷδε. We have no right to make ὑμεῖς in Our passage 
refer to others than those to whom it naturally refers, the chorus, merely because 
of a supposed barrier between “ stage ” and orchestra. 

2 Droysen’s argument (I.c. p. 60) from the obscene passage, 821 ff., that the 
women were higher than the men proves absolutely nothing. Miiller would 
include Pax 469 ff. also under this class, but by our interpretation of the passage 
(see p. 76) the connection of actors and chorus does not require that the 
latter should here pass from the orchestra to the “stage.” 


50 Edward Capps. [18or. 


Our examination of these 44 plays has shown that 36, or, 
rejecting those that have furnished the most doubtful evi- 
dence, 32, contain evidence of intimate connection in the 
action between actors and chorus. In 31 of these (all but 
the Prometheus) there must have been passing between 
“stage’’ and orchestra, sometimes by actors, but in a large 
majority of cises by the chorus or by both together. This 
passing between “stage” and orchestra was, so far as we 
can judge from the plays, perfectly free and unrestricted, 
and it occurs not only when the action may be slow and 
deliberate, suited to the ascending of steps, as at the close 
of Persians, but also, and far more frequently, when the 
action must needs be hasty and even precipitate. Two illus- 
trations will suffice. The Danaids in the Suppliants (Aesch.) 
hasten to the altars as soon as the Herald comes into view. 
They see him in 826, begin their flight in 832 (Baive puya 
πρὸς ἀλκάν), and have reached the altars by 835 (ἄναξ 7 po- 
τάσσου). And this scene is no burlesque, such as we might 
expect in Aristophanes, with which the sight of twelve 
maidens scrambling in terror and confusion up a flight of 
steps would be in keeping, but it is dignified tragedy, in 
which this scene was entirely appropriate. In Helen 1624, 
Theoclymenus first declares his intention of going into the 
palace. Only four verses later he orders the chorus to get 
out of his way. Judging from scenes such as these we can- 
not avoid the conclusion that the height of the “stage” was 
no barrier to the free passage of the chorus from orchestra 
to “stage.” A stage ten feet high undoubtedly would have 
been a barrier, and would have prevented such action as we 
have described, no matter in what way connected with the 
orchestra. Either the orchestra and the “stage” were ona 
level, or else the “stage” was very low and easily accessible 
from the orchestra under all circumstances and in all periods 
of the classical drama. This, it would seem, would be satis- 
factorily proven by the eighteen instances of crossing involved 
in the personal encounters between chorus and actors, in 
addition to the sixteen required by the parodos from the 
palace and exodos into it, for these include almost all of 


Vol. xxii.] Lhe Greck Stage. SI 


the hasty passages over the “ Stage” by the chorus. But 
so strong has been the influence of tradition that even 
those who have admitted all these instances have labored 
hard to convince themselves either that, though the floor of 
the orchestra was ten to twelve feet lower than the stage, 
yet, to prepare for just such emergencies as these, a platform 
was built up for the chorus to within a few feet of the 
stage level, or else that, after all, we cannot judge of 
Greek dramatic art by our ideas of good taste. 

In spite of such expedients, however, the adherents of the 
traditional view have spared no pains to reduce the number of 
instances of intimate action between “ stage’ and orchestra. 
Oehmichen,! the most recent writer, commits himself only 
so far as to state that “auf der Biihne erschien der Chor 
zuweilen im Beginn des Stiickes ; sonst jedenfalls sehr 
selten, seltener als man annimmt.” Haigh? does not cite 
full instances, but says authoritatively that “in all the forty- 
four Greek plays which have come down to us hardly fifteen 
certain examples are to be found.” Niejahr? would grant 
about twenty-two, though he follows Pollux closely. Albert 
Miiller gives what is supposed to be a complete citation of 
instances, making the number of crossings of the “stage” 
by the chorus about thirty-eight. But his list is not com- 
plete, even of the kind of passages he takes into account. 
It is difficult to see on what principle, for example, he says 
that the chorus in the Choephori come out of the palace 
(ἰαλτὸς ἐκ δόμων ἔβαν) without including the Troades also 
(ἔξω κομίσασθ᾽ οἴκων), or why he does not count Agamemnon 
1649 among the places where the chorus attack actors. 

If my arguments in the preceding discussion have been 
well grounded, the chorus alone pass over the boundary 
line between the stage and the orchestra at least 68 times, 
the chorus and actors together 9 times, and actors alone 
39 times, making a total of 77 times for the chorus and 
116 times for both actors and chorus, rejecting all instances 


1 Das Biihnenwesen d. Griechen u. Romer, 1890, p. 276, 
2 The Attic Theatre, 1889, p. 153. 
8 De Pollucis loc., 1885. He gives no exact enumeration, nor does Miiller, 


52 Edward Capps. ΓΙ801. 


classed as doubtful. We feel safe in saying that all of these, 
as well as those marked doubtful and many others! that 
would be suggested in the course of the action for the sake 
of dramatic effect, would be not only accepted, but regarded 
as necessary if it were not felt that the supposed height 
of the stage was an obstacle. When we take into account 
that many of these (even those granted by Miiller) could 
have been avoided by the poet had there been the slightest 
difficulty in carrying out the action indicated, and that too 
without any apparent loss of dramatic force, we cannot 
believe that there was any barrier in the way. It would 
be hard to show, for example, what was gained by having 
the chorus enter the palace during the action in Helen 327, 
or go upon the “stage” in Heracles 731 and 1009; and why 
the chorus in Iphigenia at Aulis 598 help Iphigenia descend 
from her chariot, but do not in like manner assist Androma- 
che in Troades 568. 

The following table is a summary of the instances of 
interaction between “stage” and orchestra which we have 
endeavored to establish, arranged in groups, showing those 
granted by Miller, who is most natural and liberal in his 
interpretation, and giving the results of the preceding por- 
tion of this paper. 


1 One of the clearest indications that actors and chorus were at least very 
near together is Iph. Taur. 1069, where Iphigenia earnestly begs the choreutae 
severally to aid her (σὲ καὶ σὲ ἱκνοῦμαι, κτὲ.). In Aristophanes are many passages 
that have been cited by all scholars from the scholiasts down. In two the chorus 
hand actors something (Eq. 490, oil and garlic; Eq. 921, a ladle). But perhaps 
these passages are wrongly assigned to the chorus. Meineke gives the former to 
οἰκέτης d. In Ach. 1224 Dicaeopolis pretends to get a wine sack from the priest 
in the front row of seats, and in Ran. 293 Dionysus appeals to the priest for 
protection. In Pax 906 Trygaeus offers Theoria to the prytanes in the theatre 
and pretends that they receive her. In Pax 965 Trygaeus has barley thrown into 
the audience. In Nub. 1102 Dicaeus says that he “deserts to the side of the 
rogues,” referring to the audience. In all of these cases we cannot know how 
strictly the action was carried out nor how much was broad jest. Hence no 
argument can be based on them. On the other hand, their interpretation will 
be much simplified if we find that there was no stage to hinder. Harzmann 
accepts all the above from Aristophanes (as White does also) and suggests a 
great many others that we cannot, however, accept on his theory of the stage. 


RNS TET ieee nee: ΣῊΝ 


MRE 2, 


ἢ ᾿ Ὡ 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 


TABLE OF THE INTER-ACTION BETWEEN ACTORS 


AND CHORUS. 


Passing be- 
tween 
““ Stage” and 
Orchestra. 
Occasion. References. 


Together. 


By Chorus. 
Actors. 


I | From palace to |Cho. 22; Eum. nas Troad. 154; Supp.| 
| orchestra, (2) 83 Eccl. init.; Lys. 319; Aan. 350; 
Thes, 312; Hel. 515; Lys. 2899 Ach. 280,| 


From orchestra to Cho. fin. ; ; Pers. 1038; Av. 1706 ; - Hel.| 


| ] | 
| palace, | 8273 Lys. 1182; Cyc. 82. | 


Chorus and actors| (Ὁ ho., Pers., Av., Hel., No. 2) Eum. 1004; 
depart together, | Sept. 1066 ; Alc. 422; Supp. (1) 954; Aj. 
| 1413; Phil. 1469; Cyc. 708; Supp. (2). 
| 1232; lon fin.; Troad. 1325; Ach. 1231 ;| 
| Ran. 1524; Eccl. 1149; Plut. 1208; Vesp.| 
| 


1516; Lys. 1272; Pax 1339; Prom. 1067. 


| 
ea 


4 | Chorus and actors|(Cho., Hel., No. 1) Ale. 861: Eccl init. ;| 
| ὃ : “i 

enter together. | Plut. 295; Elec. (2) 167; Supp. (1) init. :| 

fon init.; Phil, init.; Bacch. 55, Av. init.| 


Chariot scenes, . A. 598; Agam.gos; Elec. (2 ) 998; Troad.| 
568; ers. 607, 909; O.C. 310; Ran. init. | νὰ 


| Assembly scenes. 'Ach, init.: E ccl. 57 and Thesm. 292 2 (see also} 
No. = Cf. Lys. init, | 16 


7 | Search scenes. [Phen ὅτ: O. Οὐ 111; Eum, 244 and Aj. 865| 
| see also No, 3); Hec. 1054. | 


4 
8 | Altar scenes, ‘Supp, (1) 188; 833 (see also No. 3) ; Sept. 94. δε 


| 
| 
| 
| 
| 


4 


9 | Chorus called to | | Aj. 328 ; Agam. 1372; Hipp. 790; ( Cho. 980;| 
| palace—minor| H.F. 1032; H. F.731,1109; Orest. 137; : 
| instances — li- | Supp. (2) 815; Rhes. init.; Cho. 150 (No.| 
| 
| | 


bation scenes, I); Pers. 619; I. T. 167. | 19 4 
| 
| 


o | Encounters be- |Supp. (1) 909 (No. 8); Agam. 1649; Ach. 

tween actors 280; Av. 344; Eq. 247; Vesp. 453;| 
| and chorus, Rhes. 675; Hel. 1627; O. C. 85 6: 
| Heracleid. 270; Lys. 381 (No. 1). | 


. 
poco  τρατη 
os 


ftacics = Doubtful, i.e. without clear proof from text. 

Heavy-Faced Type = Granted by Miiller (p. 124 ff.). He counts also 
Prom. 281 (see p. 59, this art.); Orest. 1251 (p.29); Pax 426 (pp. 52 and 76) ; 
and Eq. 490 (p. 52). 

* Deductions are made for instances that would be counted twice. 


a 
leita 


Stns =e — σειος Ἂν Raging sage πος : i: Bo ae ἣν Asi αἰνή aa “ea wre ἕως 


ieee ακττοτ τα 
eet τὰν ΠΑ ταν 
᾿- τς ch ee 


πε... a 
Yan 


ra? 
a oe 


Cae 
δι νοι, τον RS 


ναί ὧν. 


Edward Capps. 


B. General Relation of Chorus to Actors. 


The conclusion which we have been compelled to reach in 
view of the preceding considerations, viz.: that the actors 
played on practically the same level with the chorus, is sup- 
ported also by the general relation of the chorus to the actors. 
Following the history of the drama from the early dithyram- 
bic chorus of fifty members, at which time the chorus alone 
was the drama, down to the New Comedy, in which there 
was, as arule, no chorus whatever, we can trace a steady de- 
cline in the importance of the chorus, both as to the actual 
number of verses assigned to it in each play and as to its 
participation in the action.! At first the entire performance 
consisted of dancing and song bythe chorus. Then one actor 
was introduced, so that the songs might be interspersed with 
dialogue between the coryphaeus and the actor. Then an- 
other actor was introduced; and now there could be progress 
in the action, which before this time had necessarily been 
stationary, and a plot. To this period belongs what seems 
to be our earliest extant play, the Suppliants of Aeschylus. 
Here are never more than two actors on the scene at the 
same time, and throughout several long passages only one, 
and but three dramatis personae. The plot is exceedingly 
simple, and, as we might expect, the chorus is very prominent. 
To it are given fully three-fifths of the whole play. The cho- 
rus is the centre of interest, and the actors are but the means 
of giving progress to the action. So we might trace a gradual 
decline in the functions of the chorus through Sophocles, 
Euripides, and Aristophanes. In some of the plays of the 
two last poets it might easily be omitted altogether without 
seriously affecting the symmetry of the composition. This is 
particularly true of the last of the comedies of Aristopha- 
nes, the Plutus. In the New Comedy the chorus had dis- 
appeared. 

But notwithstanding this manifest general tendency of 
decline, there is never a period throughout which the chorus 


1 See Haigh, Attic Theatre, p. 259 ff. 


Vol. xxii. The Greck Stage 

Se 55 
is consistently so unimportant as it is in particular plays 
which appeared during that period. This is an important 
fact to note. For example, the Bacchae of Euripides, whose 
chorus reminds one of that of the older poets, was composed 
in the same period with the Taurian Iphigenia, in which the 
chorus is of so little interest that the poet himself at one 
time actually forgets its presence. And the Ecclesiazusae 
of Aristophanes, during the early part of which the chorus 
is as vital to the piece as in the Suppliants of Aeschylus, was 
written between the Frogs, whose first chorus is not really a 
chorus and whose second might easily be dispensed with, and 
the Plutus, of which we have spoken before. The decline 
of the chorus was so gradual that even toward the end of the 
classical period there were frequent revivals of its old promi- 
nence. Therefore we cannot say, with Verrall,! that after 
a certain date (431 B.c.) a high Vitruvian stage could have 
been used. We have seen that Aristophanes demands fully 
as low a stage as Aeschylus. 

According to this general intimate relation of the chorus to 
the actor throughout the classical drama we should expect 
that the usual position of the chorus during the play, when 
they were neither mingling with the actors on the one hand, 
nor engaged with their strictly choral duties in the orchestra 
on the other, would be the position natural to an interested 
auditor standing ready to take part in the conversation or, if 
necessary, in the action; and we find many indications in the 
plays themselves that this was the case. The choreutae are 
generally the first to see and to announce each newly arrived 
actor; the incoming actor often apparently sees, and, at any 
rate, addresses them first, before turning to the actors. who 
are preseut.? 

That this position of the chorus was in that part of the 
orchestra nearest to the place for the actors is shown by the 


1 Review of Haigh’s Att. Theat., Class. Rev., 1890, p. 225. 

2 Examples are Pers. 246; Elec. (Eur.) 1442; Bacch. 205; Supp. (Eur.) 87; 
and Orest. 340. Harzmann, l.c. p. 47, argues from these that the actors in 
these places entered through the orchestra—an opinion that could hardly be 
held with the old view of the stage, but which would be in harmony with the new. 


\ 


sdaonebv cnambpibage icirentees ele an 
5 : — 


ee σπτοπο 


erin ge τ: 


et eon eal 


56 Edward Capps. [1891. 


general expression ! οἱ πέλας or ἐγγύς, by which the choreutae 
are often addressed by actors, and by the more definite ex- 
pressions, γυναῖκες, αἱ τῶνδ᾽ ἀμφὶ κρηπῖδας δόμων, Ion 510; 
ὑμεῖς θ᾽ ὅσαι παρέστατ᾽ ἐπὶ ταῖσιν θύραις, Eccl. 1114; ἐγγὺς 
ἑστῶτες τάφου, Pers. 686, where Atossa, who is of course on 
the “stage,” is said two verses before to be also τάφου πέλας. 
Still clearer for the use of the two words πέλας and ἐγγύς are 
Aj. 1182, where the chorus, who are already on the “stage”’ 
(see p. 34), are asked to stand “near by” the body of Ajax 
(πέλας παρέστατε) ; O. C. 803, where Oedipus speaks of the 
choreutae as τούσδε τοὺς πέλας and we find them soon (856, 
see p. 48) holding Creon back, as they had promised to do 
in 724; and Supp. (Aesch.) 208, where the Danaids, with the 
words θέλοιμ᾽ ἂν ἤδη σοὶ πέλας θρόνους ἔχειν, go to their 
father’s side. 

πέλας and ἐγγύς, although, like our “far” and “near,” 
only relative words, seem to mean in these passages either on 
the “stage” or very near to it,2—nearer than one could 
be and still see clearly what was going on upon a stage ten 
or even six feet above him. We find that when the chorus 
are farther away from this position than usual they are od 
πέλας, as in Orestes 208. There the chorus have been by 
the side of Electra, but have at last been sent away by her, 
for in 208 they can no longer see Orestes’s face distinctly, 
but Electra is still “near” him (see p. 44): 


ὅρα παροῦσα, παρθέν᾽ ᾿Ηλέκτρα, πέλας 
μὴ κατθανών σε σύγγονος λέληθ᾽ ὅδε. 


So in O. C. 165 the chorus are compelled to shout loudly to 
Oedipus because he is so far away (πολλὰ κέλευθος ἐρατύει * 
κλύεις ;). It may be, however, that Oedipus is far back in 
the grove in the rear of the scene, while the chorus cannot 
go toward him beyond the limits of the sacred grove which 


1 The following is, I think, a full list of similar expressions. Miiller gives Aj. 
1182; Ion 510; Med. 1293; Ecc. 1114. To these should be added O.C. 803; 
O.T. 1047; Hipp. 777; Supp. (Aesch.) 208; and Pers. 686. 

2 So near the actors that the poet does not hesitate to have the chorus hear 
some one coming from the house and announce him to those who are on the 
“stage,” as in the Electra of Sophocles 1322. 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 57 


he is desecrating. Again, in Hipp. 565, the chorus have just 
finished a long lyric song. They are silenced by Phaedra, 
who hears the angry words of Hippolytus within the house. 
From the agony and alarm expressed by the words and ges- 
tures of Phaedra they are filled with dread as they ask, 566: 


τί δ᾽ ἔστι, Φαίδρα, δεινὸν ἐν δόμοισι σοῖς ; 
and 572: 
ἔνεπε Tis φοβεῖ σε φάμα, γύναι. 


And so when Phaedra asks them to stand by the doors 
and hear for themselves what she could not tell them, they 
naturally excuse themselves with the words: 


\ \ ἰδὲ \ / ΄ 
σὺ παρὰ κλῇθρα" σοὶ μέλει πομπίμα 
φάτις δωμάτων. 

” Y / ’ δ 2 / 
ἔνεπε δ᾽ ἔνεπέ μοι, TL TOT ἔβα κακόν ; 


insisting still that she should tell them. How far distant 
they really are, we cannot say. If they are only five feet dis- 
tant, they could still speak as they do.’ But inasmuch as 
they have just finished an ode they probably are still near 
the centre of the orchestra. 

Clearly if the chorus regularly stood so near the actors as 
these passages indicate, and so often joined in the action 
with the actors as we have seen, there was either no stage 
at all, but both actors and chorus played on the same level, 
or else, if there was a raised stage, it was very low in order 
that the chorus might be able to fulfil the functions regularly 


assigned to it. 


C. The Numbers brought upon the “Stage.” 


According to the rules of Vitruvius the depth of the stage 
in an ordinary Greek theatre would be from eight to twelve 
feet.2 Haigh® shows that this extreme narrowness is a 
direct and necessary result of its height, inasmuch as the rear 


1 Just as in Cyc. 635, ἐσμέν μακρότερον πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν. This excuse of the 
satyrs is not to be taken seriously. See p. 42, note. 

2 At Epidaurus the depth is about 8 ft.; at Athens, 12 ft. Considerable deduc- 
tion should be made from this depth for scenery. * Att. Th., pp. 140 and 143. 


58 Edward Capps. [1891. 


portions of a deeper stage would be partly hidden from many 
of the spectators. He also defends this narrow stage on the 
ground that it was quite consistent with the general taste of 
the Greeks, which preferred such scenes as are found on 
temple friezes to the more modern group-scenes. But even 
if we should grant that the Greeks were ignorant of or 
disliked the superior effects that lie in the skilful grouping 
of figures (and this no one who studies the Greek drama will 
feel disposed to grant), it could still be readily shown that 
many scenes are found in all the dramatic poets, particularly 
in Aristophanes, in which the numbers brought upon the 
stage are too great to be accommodated in so narrow a space, 
We need mention only the trial-scene in the Eumenides, 
which we have already seen to have been enacted on the 
Stage, if there was a stage. Orestes still stands by the statue 
of Athene which had given him protection. On one side of 
him sit the twelve judges of the court of Areopagus ; on the 
other, the twelve Furies. Athene presides. There are pres- 
ent also the servants of the temple, who at the close lead the 
way out, bearing torches. How many these are we cannot 
know; but since the poet desired to obtain a splendid spectac- 
ular effect by the procession they were probably numerous, 

at least as many, we should say, as the chorus. There were 
therefore about forty persons on the stage and most of them 

were probably seated. When we consider that in addition 

space must have been found for the movable scenery, altars, 

Stage fittings,! etc., we must see the complete inadequacy of 
a narrow Vitruvian stage for such a play. A deep modern 

stage would be more in keeping with such a scene, in which 

so good an opportunity is offered for effective grouping. 

And yet in this scene there is no movement by the actors or 

chorus, as in many scenes in which as large numbers appear. 

It would be much more difficult to set the mock assembly 

scene at the beginning of the Ecclesiazusae or the Acharnians,? | 


‘On the large quantity of scenic apparatus often in use, see Sommerbrodt, 
Scaenica, p. 150. 


* White, p. 188, gives several excellent illustrations from Aristophanes of an 
overcrowded stage. 


Vol. xxii. ] The Greek Stage. 59 


in which the “stage,” crowded with the speaker’s stand 
and with seats for the throng of citizens, must still furnish 
room for numerous officers and for the coming and going of 
actors. The argument which decided against the appearance 
of chariots on such a stage now decides against such a stage 
itself. If there was a stage at all, it must have been low 
and broad in order to furnish sufficient space for the scenic 
apparatus and the large numbers of mute and speaking actors 
who were often brought upon it. 


D. Character of the Scenic Setting in Certain Plays. 


In certain plays it is impossible to suppose that any stage 
whatever was used, in view of the character of the scenes 
represented. These are the plays whose scenes are laid in 
some wild, desolate region, where only natural objects would 
be found, and in which anything approaching the conven- 
tional would be incongruous. The most striking play of this 
kind is the Prometheus. “Its scene of action is a rocky, 
desolate region ‘at the end of the world,’ in the north of 
Scythia, near the ocean. The scenery represents a rocky 
eminence with a gorge,’ ὁ in which Prometheus was to be 
bound. The chorus appear in a winged car, and, desiring to 
hear the story of Prometheus, descend from the car at his 
request (272). The place where they alight could not well 
have been the orchestra, at a considerable distance from the 
Titan. They could have heard his story with greater ease 
by remaining in their car. But verse 252, 


ὀκριοέσσῃ χθονὶ τῇδε TEA, 


shows that they were on the same rocky ground near which 
Prometheus was fettered. They remain near him through- 
out the play. In the Io scene we can draw little distinction 
as to position between Io and the chorus, except that the 
former would occupy the more prominent place. They are 
both intensely interested listeners to Prometheus, and both 
take active part in the conversation. At the end of the play 


1 Wecklein, Prom. Introduction, p. 25. 


60 Edward Capps. [1891. 


the chorus refuse to move from their position near Prome- 
theus and so perish with him. A raised stage, or any dis- 
tinction which would set a barrier between Prometheus and 
the chorus, would utterly ruin the effect of this superb play. 
If any attempt was made to represent to the eyes of the 
spectators the scene as it is indicated by the poet, there was 
no stage, any more than there would be an altar to Dionysus 
in that wild, uninhabited region. The same arguments hold 
good for Philoctetes and Cyclops, whose scenes are laid before 
caverns ; for Ajax, Hecabe, Iphigenia at Aulis, and Troades 

where the scene is before tents, amidst the asidinns 
of the camp; for Oedipus at Colonus, whose scene is laid in 
a grove; for Electra of Euripides, in the country before a 
farmer’s hut; for the Birds, on a perhaps slightly elevated 
spot before the nest of Epops; and perhaps for Aeschylus’s 
Suppliants and Septem, since no indications are found in 
them of scenery of any kind. It is a striking fact which 
strongly tends to confirm what has been said about the ab- 
sence of a stage as distinct from the orchestra in these plays 

that in every one of them without exception there is intimate 
connection between the actors and the chorus. According to 
our table, which was made on the hypothesis that there nid 
a dividing line between the place for the actors and the place 
for the chorus, the chorus in these twelve plays cross this 
boundary line at least twenty-seven times, to say nothing of 
the Prometheus, in which they are with the actors theo 

Nothing could be more evident, therefore, than that i thesis 
twelve plays at least there was no stage whatever, and that 
the actors were on the same level with the chorus except 
when the scenery, imitating the nature of the place repre- 
sented, may have shown one portion of the region somewhat 

higher than the rest (e.g. in the Birds). ‘ 


E. Street Scenes in Aristophanes. 


In Greek tragedy the scene is laid generally in front of 
a palace or temple, sometimes before a tent or hut, or 
before a cave in some uninhabited region. In all of them 


Vol. xxii. | The Greek Stage. 61 


the immediate place of action seems to be more or less 
isolated from its surroundings. In the Eumenides we find 
no indications of the bustle of city life at Athens, nor in the 
Phoenissae are we made to feel that we are in the heart of 
Thebes. But in comedy the case is quite otherwise. In some 
comedies we are taken into the midst of the most active city 
life, see the hurrying of people along the street, the gather- 
ing together in knots for the discussion of politics and the 
war with Sparta, and scenes even more realistic than these. 
The comedies whose scenes are laid in the city are Knights, 
Wasps, Ecclesiazusae, Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae, and a 
part of the Acharnians. Of these, the scene of the Lysis- 
trata, excepting act first, is laid before the Acropolis, the first 
act of the Acharnians in the Pnyx, and the first act of the 
Thesmophoriazusae before a private residence (the rest before 
the Thesmophorium). We shall have no need especially to 
consider these portions of the plays. There remain for dis- 
cussion Wasps, Knights, Ecclesiazusae, and the opening 
scene of the Lysistrata. In all of these a street of the city 
is represented, and in them we may therefore look for a real- 
istic presentation of the city life of the Athenians. In the 
background are private dwellings in front of which runs the 
city thoroughfare. 

The opening scene of the Ecclesiazusae has already been 
described. One after another enter from various quarters 
of the city, and gathering together before the house of Prax- 
agora, they hold their meeting. That they afterwards fulfil 
the functions of a chorus is incidental—no one of the specta- 
tors would have thought of the disordered crowd of women 
as a substitute for the well-trained, orderly chorus to which the 
theatre was accustomed, and in fact they were not a chorus 
in any true sense until they joined for their exit in 285. This 
is shown by the early part of the Lysistrata, which is in 
every respect similar to this part of the Ecclesiazusae, except 
that the forms of an ecclesia are not imitated. The women 
who enter into the lively discussion which resembles the 
more formal meeting in the Ecclesiazusae fulfil throughout 
the functions of actors. In the Lysistrata every scholar 


62 Edward Capps. [189r. 


admits that all the participants in the action come in by the 
doors in the scene and by the wings. That this is the case 
in the Ecclesiazusae we have already seen, and the similarity 
of its opening scene to that of the Lysistrata makes it still 
more certain that the movements of the actors are the same. 
The reason for this lies beyond the rules of Pollux and the 
scholiasts. It is that the scene presented to the eyes of the 
spectators is a street scene, approaching as nearly as possible to 
a realistic representation. Now in a street scene actors could 
enter from but three directions, —from the doors of the 
houses which faced the street, or from the right or left 
of the street which ran in front of the houses. For any 
persons connected with the action to enter from the parodoi 
into the orchestra facing the spectators, and then, turning, to 
converse or commingle with others in front of the ὍΠΩΣ 
would be altogether incongruous, —just as if during a similar 
scene in a modern theatre a troop of actors should come out 
of the doors connecting the auditorium and the wings, and 

passing around to the front of the stage, should then eis 
part in the action. It would be ruinous to the illusion of 
a street scene. It should be remembered that the so-called 
parodoi were parts of the theatre, and not of the scenery. 
But if we assume that the Greeks would have tolerated so 
great an incongruity, we must face at once a still greater 
difficulty ; for the incoming chorus would then find- them. 
selves far below the level of the street in which they were to 
take their stand. Therefore in at least the four plays under 
discussion all the dramatis persone, both actors and chorus 

must have entered either from the houses or from the wings: 
If this is true, then we at once meet with another difficulty, if 
we are to believe In a raised stage. We have preserved the 
illusion, but in doing so we have brought upon a platform 
from eight to ten feet in depth a number too great to be 
oo In the first act of the Ecclesiazusae are seen 

¢ iiteen women of the chorus and several a ss r 

we must believe that after the women have pe a 
for the mock assembly there is still room left for the passing 
to and fro of actors. Even more are on this “stage” toward 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 63 


the end of the piece and move about freely upon it; for 
Blepyrus, at the summons of the maid-servant, moves off the 
scene accompanied by the chorus and perhaps many others, 
all dancing as they go (cf. 1149 ff.). So also in the Wasps and 
in the Knights the fifteen choreutae make their charge upon 
the actors on this narrow platform; and in the Wasps, while 
the chorus is still present, the mock trial scene takes place. 
This is impossible. These actions require as much space as 
would be furnished by a narrow street in the city. A narrow 
stage of any considerable height is out of the question. 
Reference to a plan of the stage-buildings and orches- 
tra of a Greek theatre will explain the setting of these 
plays. If instead of supposing the action to take place on 
the shallow roof of the proscenium we place it in front of the 
proscenium, on Dorpfeld’s theory, every movement is simple 
and natural. There is ample room for any number. All 
who enter come from the doors in the rear or through the 
side wings. The side wings and the parodoi are one and the 
same thing and well represent the streets of the city, opening 
upon which are the houses in the rear. The orchestra is 
merely a widening of the street.1. When the chorus disap- 
peared from the drama and less space was needed for the 
presentation, a portion of the orchestra was occupied by the 
seats reserved for the nobility, and,.in order that the place 
for spectators might be distinct from that for the actors, this 
reserved portion was reduced in level so that the inner part 
of the former orchestra presented the appearance of a low 
and broad platform. This was the Roman stage of Vitruvius. 
The Greek “stage” of Vitruvius was the proscenium, which 
he wrongly supposed to be the place for actors. The scenes 
from Aristophanes which we have here examined are fore- 
runners of the new comedy as we know it from its Roman 
adaptations. These street scenes are the stock scenes of 
Plautus and Terence. The entrances used in them are the 


same as in the Roman poets. 


1 See Dérpfeld’s Recension of Haigh’s book in Berl. Phil. Woch. 1890, 470. 


Ldward Capps. [ 1891. 


II. Direct EvipENcE ADDUCED IN FAVOR OF AN 
ELEVATED STAGE. 


We have seen that in many plays the character of the 
scene and, in the whole classical drama, the relation of the 
chorus to the actors, their numbers and movements during 
the action declare strongly against a stage of any considerable 
height. It remains to consider the evidence that has been 
or may be drawn from the plays in favor of the opposing view. 
Although in view of the preceding arguments the existence 
of the Vitruvian stage could hardly be proved, yet possibly 
some support may be found for Haigh’s theory that during 
the early classical period the theatre had a stage of moderate 
height, so low as not to hinder to any great extent the move- 
ments required in the presentation of the play, yet high 
enough to distinguish the actors from the chorus, and that 
this stage was gradually increased in height as the impor- 
tance of the chorus declined. We have seen that the stage 
of Aristophanes must have been fully as low as that of Aes- 
chylus. Perhaps the supposed increase in height took place 
during the period of the Middle Comedy. However this may 
be, if there was a stage of any height during the classical 
period, we may reasonably expect to find in the plays pro- 
duced during that period (1) words of direction accompanying 
the ascending to or descending from this stage, (2) expres- 
sions which can be explained only on the supposition of 
difference of level, and (3) scenes which could have been 
presented only on an elevation. 

I. Though both chorus and actors in tragedy often, as we 
have found, have occasion to pass from the portion of the 
theatre that lies nearest the rear wall of the scene to the 
open space of the orchestra, and vice versa, and though in 
many other passages also. words of command that would 
require such movements are given but not obeyed, yet there 
is not one word of direction, either prepositional or adverbial, 
that indicates a change of level. On the contrary, the prepo- 
sitions ἀπό, ἐκ, eis, ἐπί, πρό, πρός, and παρά, alone and in 


Vol. xxii.] Lhe Greek Stage. 65 


verbal compounds, and their corresponding adverbs, or even 
in many cases the simple verb unaccompanied by preposition 
or adverb, are found when the action is such as we have 
described, but never ἀνά and κατά. This is at least a singu- 
lar fact and difficult to explain except on the supposition that 
there was no difference between the level of actors and chorus. 
At other times when an actor ascends or descends, the action 
is made evident by some word or expression in the context, 
as in the Suppliants (Eur.) 1045 and in the Phoenissae 193. 
The poet could have had no desire to avoid indicating a dif- 
ference of level if there was such a difference. 

The same general rule holds good for comedy. In at least 
forty instances of inter-action between actors and chorus in 
Aristophanes no word is used which might indicate a change 
of level. But believers in the Vitruvian stage have found 
Six passages whose positive testimony, they claim, outweighs 
the unanimous negative testimony of tragedy and the gen- 
eral rule in comedy. Three times the verb ἀναβαίνειν is 
found where it has been made to refer to the height of the 
stage, and twice καταβαίνειν and once (see p. 68) a similar 
expression.! First we shall examine the occurrences of éva- 
βαίνειν. 

In Knights 148 the Sausage-seller as he enters is hailed by 
Οἰκέτης a’ as follows: 

δεῦρο δεῦρ ὦ φίλτατε" 
ἀνάβαινε σωτὴρ τῇ πόλει καὶ νῷν φανείς. 
Two scholia upon this passage give the two explanations 
which have since prevailed. I. wa, φησὶν, ἐκ τῆς παρόδου 
ἐπὶ τὸν λογεῖον ἀναβῇ. 11. διὰ τί ἐκ τῆς παρόδου; τοῦτο 


γὰρ οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον. λεκτέον οὖν ὅτι ἀναβαίνειν ἐλέγετο τὸ ἐπὶ 
τὸ λογεῖον εἰσιέναι. ὃ καὶ πρόσκειται. λέγεται γὰρ καταβαί- 
νειν τὸ ἀπαλλάττεσθαι ἐντεῦθεν ἀπὸ τοὺ παλαιοῦ ἔθους. 

In Acharnians 732 the Megarian who has just arrived ad- 
dresses his daughters : 


1 These passages have often been cited and discussed. See Professor White’s 
clear and convincing discussion of the first five in Harvard Studies II., p- 164 ff. 
Though my conclusions are practically the same as his in the case of dva- and 
καταβαίνειν, they are given in full for the sake of completeness. 


Edward Capps. 


i / = 
ἀλλ᾽ ὦ πονηρὰ κόρια κἀθλίω πατρός, 
ca " > τ / 

ἄμβατε ποττὰν μᾶδδαν, ai y evpnTe πᾳ. 


Finally in Wasps 1342 Philocleon, who is just entering from 
one of the wings, calls to the music girl: 


ἀνάβαινε δεῦρο χρυσομηλολόνθιον. 


It is to be noticed with regard to these three passages that 
the commands are all addressed to newly arrived actors ; that 
the action of the piece does not require that they should enter 
in any but the usual way; and that only the occurrence of the 
word ἀναβαίνειν has given rise to the explanation of Scholi- 
ast I and his followers, that the actors entered through the or- 
chestra and then ascended the “stage.” If, therefore, we can 
find any suitable meaning of ἀναβαίνειν in these passages we 
shall be justified in rejecting an interpretation which seems 
artificial, and in following the natural suggestions of the text. 

The interpretation of Scholiast II, that ava- and κατα- 
βαίνειν have the meanings εἰσιέναι and ἀπαλλάττεσθαι, 15 
at first thought attractive. It admits of δὴ explanation 
on historical grounds also. As Dérpfeld? shows, ἀναβαίνειν 
would be the natural term for the “entering”’ of an actor in 
the early days of the drama, when the spectators sat on the 
level ground and the single actor mounted the table or plat- 
form. When in the course of the development of the drama 
rising tiers of seats were erected and actors and chorus freely 
mingled on a level surface, these terms would still continue 
to be used, though now as stereotyped terms. But in the 
three passages under discussion even this interpretation, 
which avoids the supposed mounting of the stage, is not 
the natural one. In each of these passages the actor to 
whom the word ἀναβαίνειν refers has already appeared upon 
the scene, so that the technical meaning of the word cannot 
properly be used. If we look once more at the passage from 
the Knights, we shall see that ava- adds nothing whatever to 
the δεῦρο of the preceding line, and that the whole meaning 
of ἀναβαίνειν is again expressed in δεῦρ ἐλθέ of the line fol- 


1 Recension of Haigh’s Att. Th., Berl. Phil. Woch. 1890, 468. 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 67 


lowing. οἰκέτης a calls to the Sausage-seller, “Here, here, 
my dear fellow, come up (or over) here and show yourself a 
Saviour to the city and to us; come here;” ἀνάβαινε seems 
to mean no more than “approach.” This meaning satisfies 
Wasps 1342 also. The music girl has come in after Philo- 
cleon through one of the wings, and he, turning to her, tells 
her to “come up” to him. Simply δεῦρο βαῖνε might have 
been used. The same rendering fully satisfies Acharnians 
732. This force of the preposition ἀνά, conveying the idea 
of direction to or over, is not uncommon.! We may compare 
Acharnians 245 dvados δεῦρο τὴν ἐτνήρυσιν, “hand over here 
the soup ladle,” and Xenophon’s Symposium 2, 8 παρεστηκὼς 
δέ τις TH ὀρχηστρίδι ἀνεδίδου τοὺς τροχούς and the use of 
ἀναβαίνειν and ἀναχωρεῖν with the meaning of ‘pass over,” 
Herodotus 7, 205 ἐς Λεωνίδην ἀνέβαινεν ἡ βασιληΐη (cf. Hdt, 
7, 5 ἀναχωρεῖν) and ἀνιέναι in the Iliad 22, 492: 


’ / / \ 
δευόμενος δέ τ᾽ ἄνεισι πάις és πατρὸς ἑταίρους. 


We may, therefore, dismiss the traditional rendering of these 
passages from our discussion, without passing judgment 
against the statement of Scholiast II, that ἀναβαίνειν was 
used ἀπὸ τοῦ παλαιοῦ ἔθους with the meaning of εἰσιέναι. 

The two occurrences of καταβαίνειν are as follows: In 
Wasps 1514 Philocleon has challenged tragic poets to a con- 
test in dancing. The sons of Carcinus appear. With the 
words 

ἀτὰρ καταβατέον γ᾽ ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς μοι 

he enters into the contest while the chorus draw back to 
make room. Toward the end of the Ecclesiazusae the 
chorus alone are on the scene. A servant enters, inquires for 
the master, and on his entrance invites them all to dinner, 
The invitation is accepted, and the chorus in 1151 Say: 


/ n 
τί δῆτα διατρίβεις ἔχων, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἄγεις 
’ οι / \ 
τασδὶ λαβών ; ἐν dow δὲ καταβαίνεις, ἐγὼ 
> / , ᾽ 
ἐπάσομαι μέλος τι μελλοδειπνικόν. 
« 


Then follows a dance, during which all go out together. 


1 See Niejahr’s arguments on this point, Quaes. Arist. Scaen., p. 28. 


68 Edward Capps. [1891. 


It happens that in both these scenes there .s dancing at 
the close of the play. This would certainly have taken place 
in the orchestra. Moreover, in both cases an actor mingles 
with the chorus. Hence so long as men believed in a raised 
stage it was natural that the verb should have been thought to 
be an indication of its height. But as regards the first in- 
stance, scholars from Stephanus down have given the verb the 
undoubtedly correct meaning of “descendere in certamen,”’ 
as if we had in the text καταβατέον eis ἀγῶν᾽ ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς, for 
which we have the authority of several classical writers. As 
to the second passage, which is the only passage remain- 
ing which can be quoted as evidence of a raised stage 
because it contains ἀνά or κατά, we must rest upon the state- 
ment of the scholiast and give it the meaning of ἀπαλλάττε- 
σθαι, though we can furnish no other example of this use, 
and must admit that the whole situation is puzzling. 

The one other instance under this class that has been 
quoted to prove a raised stage is Lysistrata 286 ff. The 
chorus of old men are making their entrance and advancing 
towards the citadel, complaining of the difficulty of the 
journey : Pay ot -. χα er 

ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸ yap μοι THs ὁδοῦ 
λοιπὸν ἐστι χωρίον 


\ \ \ , > \ ” 
TO πρὸς πόλιν TO σιμόν, οἷ σπουδὴν ἔχω" 


τὸ σιμόν, the scholiast says, was ὄνομα χωρίου τοῦ πρὸς THY 
ἀκρόπολιν" τὸ σιμὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ πρόσαντες, and Niejahr,! going 
still further, adds: “scalas, ni fallor, quibus ex orchestra 
in proscenium escendebatur, per jocum significantes.” But 
the fact that this chorus and the chorus of women passed 
over this same ground again and again during the course 
of the play, and without another reference to the difficulty, 
shows that there was no such “pulpitum”’ to ascend as Droy- 
sen and others believed. We must beware of taking Aris- 
tophanes too seriously. No characteristic of his is better 
recognized than the liberty he took in drawing on the imagi- 
nation of his audience. If the actors said that it was night, 


1 De Poll. loc., p. v1. 


Vol. xxii. ] The Greek Stage. 69 


to them it was night, though in reality it was midday ; if 
they said they were going up hill, the spectators could be 
trusted to believe that the way was steep, even if it were 
on a dead level. This was comparatively but a slight de- 
mand upon them. Precisely the same thing is found in 
tragedy. In Electra (Eur.) 489 ff., the old servant com- 
ing through one of the wings complains of the steepness of 
the path: 
ὡς πρόσβασιν τῶνδ᾽ ὀρθίαν οἴκων ἔχει 


ῥυσῷ γέροντι τῷδε προσβῆναι ποδί. 


No one has ever yet, on the strength of these words, advanced 
the view that the actor entered through the orchestra and 
uttered these words as he climbed the steps to the stage, 
and yet it indicates an ascent much more clearly than any 
of the cases from comedy which we have quoted. The actors 
in all these cases kept the same level. 

2. We now come to our second class, — references by 
actors to the elevation of the position they occupy. Albert 
Miller? cites Peace 564 as showing that the chorus were ona 
lower level than the speaker. Hermes sees the chorus with 
their mallets and mattocks, and says: 


= , ¢ \ \ »“ ~ , 
ὦ Ἰ]όσειδον ὡς καλὸν τὸ στῖφος αὐτῶν φαίνεται 


\ \ 4 \ ef a 
καὶ πυκνὸν καὶ γοργὸν ὥσπερ pata Kal πανδαισία. 


It is difficult to see what evidence can be gained from these 
words one way or the other. Miiller’s second passage, Birds 
268 ff., is fully as weak. He claims that the conversation 
between the two Athenians during the entrance of the chorus 
of birds indicates that the birds were below them; cf. 263 ff. : 


> ὦ’ 


Πισ. ὁρᾷς τιν᾽ ὄρνιν; Ed. μὰ τὸν ᾿ΑἈπύλλω ᾿γὼ μὲν οὔ, 


/ / / »»ἦ \ > δ / / 
καίτοι KEXNVa γ ἐς TOV OVpavoy βλέπων, 
and 206 ff. : 


Ev. ὦναξ Απολλον τοῦ νέφους" ἰοὺ ἰού, 
> 


δ᾽ ὃ “ Ν Be > ¢ 3 A 7 \ 3 
OU loely ET ἐσθ UT αὐτῶν TTETOMEVDMV THV εἴσοδον. 


1 Biihnenalt., p. 109. 


70 Edward Capps. [189r. 


If we can infer anything from the above, it is that the birds 
were above the actors, “like a cloud.” Miiller cites further 
from the same play 175 ff. Pisthetaerus is talking to Epops: 


Ilia. βλέψον κάτω: “Em. καὶ δὴ βλέπω. 
IIlic. βλέπε νῦν ἄνω. 
‘Ew. βλέπω. lic. περίαγε τὸν τράγηλον. 


BN 7 » γι 4 / \ \ > / 
Π σ΄. εἶδές τι; “Ear. τὰς νεφέλας γε καὶ τὸν οὐρανόν. 


If all were on a level, it is claimed, the command to “look 
down” would be absurd. But this is pushing the words 
quite too far again. These commands are intended to be 
ridiculous. It is not impossible, however, since the scenery 
of the Birds is wild and unconventional, that there was 
a rising ground to represent the home of the birds and the 
city in the air, but we cannot make this passage the basis 
of such a view. 

Danaus in Suppliants (Aesch.) 713 tells the chorus of the 
approach of the ship of their pursuers : 


e “er 4 A at 4 A ς - 
ἱκεταδόκου γὰρ τῆσὸ ἀπὸ σκοπῆς Opa 


τὸν πλοῖον. 


This ἱκεταδόκος σκοπή was near the altars of the gods and 
therefore on the “stage.” Was Danaus necessarily above 
the chorus; and if so, was it his position on the “stage” ! 
that made him so? Both these questions, we think, can be 
answered in the negative. In the first place, again we do 
not know how much in such a case was left to the imagina- 
tion. In 180 Danaus, from probably the same position, not 
only saw the cloud of dust made by the approaching army, 
which the chorus does not see, but also hears the σύριγγες 
ἀξονήλατοι, which the chorus does not hear. Is this too 
made possible by his holding a higher position? Secondly, 
supposing that it should still seem necessary that Danaus 
in 713 should be higher than the chorus, why should he not 


- ’ 4 ° . ° ° 

1 No argument can be based on τόνδε πάγον in 189, which refer to the station 

of Danaus, any more than in Prom. 130. πάγος is not necessarily a “ hill.” δ 
Miller in Phil. Anz. 15, 528, where he takes up other passages here discussed. 


Vol. xxii. ] lhe Greek Stage. 71 


have mounted the steps of the altar?! In support of this 
proposed alternative is Knights 169, where the Sausage- 
seller, by mounting the small table which he had brought in 
with him, is said to have beheld all the outlying islands : 


9 7 \ > \ 
ἀλλ᾽ ἐπανάβηθι κἀπὶ τοὐλεὸν τοδὶ 


\ ’ 4 7 . 7 5 ΄ 
Και κάτιδε τας VIGOVUS ATAaGAaAS EV κυκλῳ. 


In either case no argument can be based on this passage. 

3. Miiller? gives four passages in which the chorus disap- 
pear for a short time from the view of the actors, and endeav- 
ors from these to show that the only place where they could 
have been completely hidden without leaving the scene alto- 
gether was under the front wall of the stage twelve feet high. 


The passages are Choephori 872 ff. : 


- 7 7 
ἀποσταθῶμεν πράγματος τελουμένου, 
ce A “Ὁ ᾽ ’ / wn 
OTT @S δοκῶμεν TOVO QAVQaALTLAL KAKWV 


εἶναι. 
Heracles 1081 ff. : 
duya φυγᾷ, γέροντες, ἀποπρὸ δωμάτων 
διώκετε φεύγετε μάργον 
ἄνδρ᾽ ἐπεγειρόμενον. 


Acharnians 240 ff.: 


οὗτος αὐτός ἐστιν ὃν ζητοῦμεν. ἀλλὰ δεῦρο πᾶς 
/ 7 ς \ ς , 9 7 

ἐκποδών" θύσων γὰρ ἁνὴρ ὡς ἔοικ᾽ ἐξέρχεται, 
and Ecclesiazusae 406 ff. : 

ἀλλ᾽ εἶα δεῦρ᾽ ἐπὶ σκιᾶς 

ἐλθοῦσα πρὸς τὸ τειχίον 

παραβλέπουσα θατέρῳ 

πάλιν μετασκεύαζε σαυτὴν αὖθις ἥπερ ἦσθα. 


Miiller believes that a platform was erected in the orches- 
tra to within a few feet of the stage level. Therefore he 
is compelled to suppose that the chorus in these scenes 
descend from this platform to the ground of the orchestra 


1 As Miiller suggests, and Niejahr De Poll. loc., pp. Ix and xx. 
135 and Phil. Anz., 15, 528. 


2 Biihnenalt, p. 


m~ 


= — rac 
πω ET ARNG Le Ne Rema cite gn ee 


72 Edward Capps. [1891. 


(except in Ach. and Eccl., where they are just entering) 
and then pressed close to the wall of the proscenium. Since 
this raised platform, which he terms the “thymele,” has 
been discarded, and since our preceding arguments have 
shown that there was no raised stage which would afford the 
shelter here needed, it rests with us only to explain how 
these passages were presented in order that the last difficulty 
in the way of accepting the new theory of the stage may 
disappear. 

To the four citations of Miiller should be added Hippoly- 
tus from 601 to 608, during which interval the chorus are 
supposed not to be present, Electra (Eur.) 220-297, if the 
chorus obey the words of Electra 218 ff.: 


~ \ \ 9 3 > / a. \ 

φυγῇ σὺ μὲν κατ᾽ οἶμον, εἰς δόμους δ᾽ ἐγὼ 
A 7 5 ΄ / 
φῶτας κακούργους ἐξαλύξωμεν ποδί, 


and perhaps Hecabe 1055 ff., where it is probable that 
the chorus would follow the example of Hecabe herself 
1054 ff.: 


> > ee \ 4 > 4 

ἀλλ΄ ἐκποδὼν ἄπειμι κἀποστήσομαι 
“Ὁ 7 \ / 

θυμῷ ξέοντι Θρῃκὶ δυσμαχωτάτῳ. 


In none of these passages, I agree with Miiller, do the 
chorus leave the scene entirely. I cannot agree, however, 
that they went to a position where they could not them- 
selves see the actors, as the theory of Miiller requires, 
Indeed, as the context of the first passage cited by him 
shows, the chorus in the Choephori are seen by the servant 
who comes out to give the alarm (because they do not 
answer she complains that she is “shouting to the deaf,” 
κωφοῖς aire), and as soon as they see Clytemnestra led into 
the palace and the last danger to them removed, they sing 
the choral ode from their usual station. In the Heracles also 
Amphitryon with the chorus sees his son awake. The 
words of Heracles as he first awakes, 1106 ff.: 


1 It is possible, however, that here again Euripides simply forgets the presence 
of his chorus. Very similar is the hiding of Orestes and Pylades in the early part 
of the Choephori; they undoubtedly withdrew into the wings. 


Vol. xxii.] Ihe Greek Stage. 


393 ἡ / > \ A / / 93 a) 

@1), TLS ἐγγὺς ἢ πρόσω φίλων ἐμῶν, 
7 “ \ / 

δύσγνοιαν ὅστις τὴν ἐμὴν ἰάσεται; 


are to be considered only the words of a man not yet fully 
awakened from sleep. We must remember, too, that he is 
lying bound to a pillar, not in the usual station of actors. 

But all of the features peculiar to hiding scenes that are 
found in the other passages are combined in that of the 
Acharnians. Let us accordingly examine it more at length. 
The scene is as follows: Dicaeopolis is marching from his 
house following his slaves and daughter, preparing to cele- 
brate the “rural Dionysia,” while his wife is an interested 
spectator from the roof of the house. The chorus have just 
been entering from a parodos in eager pursuit. Seeing 
Dicaeopolis coming out of his house and feeling certain that 
he is the man they want (239), they withdraw from his sight. 
hen they await their chance. Dicaeopolis marches a con- 
siderable distance, all intent on making the finest possible 
display with his parade, and happy in the thought of the 
pleasure still to come, when without a word of warning the 
chorus spring up and pelt him with stones. 280 ff.: 


οὗτος AUTOS ἐστιν, οὗτος. 
βάλλε βάλλε βάλλε βάλλε. 


Though they do not lay hands on him, they apparently hem 
him in on all sides, giving no opportunity of escape. Three 
facts are clear: (1) That the chorus are in a position to watch 
him closely while they are in hiding from him; (2) that Dicae- 
opolis marches a long distance (247-280) from his house; 
(3) that he comes very near the hiding-place of the Achar- 
nians, so that there is no way of escape for him on their 
sudden attack. The only hiding-place that would fulfil all 
these conditions is the parodos of the orchestra. To be sure, 
Dicaeopolis could have seen them after he had gone some 
distance in the orchestra; but, if the poet so wished, he could 
also easily avoid seeing them without injury to the illusion. 
We have only to recall such scenes on the modern stage to 


realize how simple this explanation is. The tevyiov in Eccle- 


74 Edward Capps. [1891. 


siazusae 497, which Miiller claimed could be nothing but the 
wall of the proscenium, may just as well be the wall of the 
parodos. That this conclusion is correct is established by 
comparison with Clouds 324 ff.: 


Στρ. φέρε ποῦ; δεῖξον. Soa. χωροῦσ᾽ αὗται πάνυ πολλαί. 


A - t \ A / - 7 ~ / \ 
διὰ τῶν Koihwv καὶ τῶν δασέων, αὗται πλάγιαι. Στρ. τί τὸ 
χρῆμα; 
‘al \ \ > 
ὡς ov xafopd. Xw. παρὰ τὴν εἴσοδον. Tp. ἤδη νυνὶ 
μόλις οὕτως. 


The chorus of clouds are just entering, of course through the 
parodos, where they had been for some time singing in con- 
cealment. Lest objection be raised that by this explanation 
of the scene in the Acharnians Dicaeopolis, an actor, is made 
to go into the orchestra, it may be well to add that, now that 
we are sure that there was no stage, all former objections 
to the movement of actors and chorus out of what has been 
considered their appropriate positions now disappear. We 
may now interpret much more freely, and in many instances 
we see how the action is rendered much more simple and 
effective, if actors may enter through the parodos and the 
chorus through the wings, and if both move about the whole 
available space with perfect freedom. 

One entire play still remains, the Birds, and a large por- 
tion of the Peace, which we are told would require an ele- 
vation. As to the former, it is doubtful if the home of the 
birds was represented as above the earth. As we have seen, 
this play is one of those in which the scenery must have been 
wholly unconventional in character, representing a rough, 
stony region in the foreground, and in the background the 
home of Epops, a cavern among the rocks (54) or a hut in the 
midst of bushes and shrubbery. As Euelpides and his com- 
panions toilingly make their way from the parodos through 
the orchestra to this hut, though they speak much of the 
difficulty of the way, they say nothing about its steep- 
ness. When at last they draw near to the house of Epops, 
still uncertain of their way, they are directed to his house 
by the raven, 49 ff.: 


Lhe Greek Stage. 


IIuc. ἡ κορώνη μοι πάλαι 
ἢ ᾿ - 
ἄνω τι φράξει. Ev. χὠ κολοιὸς οὑτοσὶ 
ἄνω κέχηκεν ὡσπερεὶ δεικνύς τί μοι. 


At once they beat the wall with a rock, and Trochilus comes 
out. This pointing of the birds is the only indication of 
height in the play. But there is nothing in this to prove that 
the Athenians ascended. The raven looked up to the nest of 
the birds ; without going further the travellers knocked. If 
some height seems requisite, however, it could easily have 
been made by building up the space in front of the rear wall 
in imitation of natural scenery. This supposition would 
satisty those who would interpret strictly the words, κατὼ 
βλέπω (175). 

The following is the situation in the Peace: At the close 
of the farmyard scene Trygaeus mounts a huge beetle, and 
after a perilous passage in the air reaches safely the home 
of Zeus. Learning that the goddess Peace is imprisoned 
in a deep cave covered with stones, which was probably rep- 
resented at one side in the rear, he summons farmers from 
the earth to assist in dragging her out. They at once ap- 
pear, forming the chorus. Trygaeus, Hermes, and the chorus 
all (490 ff.) lay hold of a rope, and finally draw Peace forth. 
The farmers go back to earth as they appeared, but Trygaeus, 
when ready to descend, cannot find his beetle and is at a loss 
how to reach the earth, 725 ff.: 


Τρ. πῶς δῆτ᾽ ἐγὼ καταβήσομαι; ‘Ep. θάρρει, καλῶς" 
τηδὶ παρ᾽ αὐτὴν τὴν θεόν. 


Following the direction of Hermes he soon after appears 
below, before his own house. 

On the old view of the stage the natural interpretation of 
this interesting scene, viz.: that Trygaeus actually ascended 
to an elevation representing the court of Zeus, presented 
great difficulties. This elevation would be the distegia above 
the stage. The chorus would be compelled first to mount 
the stage and then to ascend by some means to this narrow 
platform, where the lively action described took place. This 
would be impossible. Hence Schénborn argues that the 


76 Edward Capps. [1801. 


chorus and actors were not actually together when they 
hauled out the goddess, but that a rope passing over a pulley 
above was thrown to the chorus in the orchestra. This is 
too fanciful. It would not only ruin the illusion if Trygaeus 
in heaven were conversing with the choreutae on earth, 
but every circumstance of the scene demands that all should 
be together; (1) the chorus are told to be quiet lest they dis- 
turb Polemus who is within the palace (309 ff.); (2) the cho- 
reutae and T'rygaeus are about to carry away the stones from 
the cave, when Hermes interrupts them (301); finally (3) 
when Hermes grants permission to proceed, he instructs them 
(427) to go into! the ἄντρον βαθύ, in order to take away the 
stones which are piled on the goddess. Geppert’s? view 
seemed on the whole the most satisfactory. “Der Held des 
Stiickes selbst erscheint auf seinem Kafer in der Luft um 
in den Himmel zu fliegen. Die Illusion des Steigens aber 
wurde dadurch hergestellt, dass die Scene um ihn herabge- 
lassen wurde und eine neue Decoration sich zeigte, die den 
Pallast des Zeus darstellte..... Sobald dies geschehn 
war, stieg Trygdos von seinem Mistkdfer ab und befand sich 
vor der Wohnung des Zeus.” This explanation obviated the 
difficulty about the chorus. The main objection to it was 
that it was not a natural explanation. Too severe a strain 
through too long a time is laid upon the imagination of the 
spectators, who are compelled to believe that the house of 
Trygaeus, before which the sty of the beetle had just been 
seen, and where the servants and family had just watched 
with anxiety the exciting voyage in the air, represents a 
moment later the palace of Zeus. Moreover, the alarm of 
Trygaeus on finding his beetle lost Would be almost too ludi- 
crous if he were in reality in front of his own house on earth. 

On Déorpfeld’s view of the “stage,” these difficulties dis- 


1 εἰσιόντες. Since the chorus are, in my opinion, on the same level with the 
actors, Bachmann’s conjecture of εἶ ἰόντες is gratuitous (Conj. Arist., p. 133, cited 
in Berl. Phil. Woch., 1891, 166). The cave was “ deep,” hence the usual meaning 
of εἰσιέναι (Droysen, p. 11) satisfies. The stones need not have filled the cave. 

2 Die altgr. Biihne, p. 167. Niejahr, Quaes. Arist. Scaen., p. 21, adopts this view 
except as to the change of scenery. White, Pp. 175, gives practically the same 
interpretation as Geppert, with the difference that the former knows no stage. 


Vol. xxii.] The Greek Stage. 77 


appear and the natural explanation becomes possible. Try- 
gaeus ascends to the roof of the proscenium, on which the 
whole heaven scene is enacted. The chorus of farmers ap- 
pear on it to help in the release of Peace. How did they reach 
this elevation? Obviously not by a ladder or stairway from 
the orchestra, for if this means were at hand Trygaeus would 
not have needed a beetle for his ascent nor have been 
alarmed at its disappearance when about to descend. They 
must have entered through one of the doors leading from the 
ends of the proscenium into the stage buildings. By this 
way they again disappear, and it is probable that Hermes 
points to this means of exit with the words τῃδὶ παρ᾽ αὐτὴν 
θεόν. There still remains the objection that it would be 
injurious to the illusion for Trygaeus in heaven to shout to 
the earth for help, but this objection may be made to any 
other view. It is no more possible to avoid confusion 
between heaven and earth in this play than between earth 
and Hades in the Frogs.! The only objection which still 
remains is that a very large number of persons would be 
made to appear at the same time on the roof of the prosce- 
nium. This may have been large enough for them, but at any 
rate it is noticeable that during this scene there is no song 
by the chorus that would require dancing. If we are right 
in the above explanation, then this is the only instance of 
any considerable use of the roof of the proscenium? in the 
extant dramas of the Greeks. 

I have endeavored to show that the evidence drawn from 
the movements of the actors and chorus in the extant plays 


1 On such license in the Old Comedy, see Niejahr, Com. Scaen., p. 13. 

2 The other occasions are as follows: The watchman in the Agamemnon is 
first seen upon the roof of the house. In the Phoenissae (cf. 193), Antigone and 
her attendant ascend to the roof to see the approaching armies. In the Suppli- 
ants (Eur.), Euadne climbs a height from which she may leap upon the funeral 
pyre (cf. 990-1070). Inthe Lysistrata, Myrrhina looks down from the battle- 
ments and parleys with those below (cf. 870-85). In the Wasps, Bdelycleon is 
seen upon the roof guarding against his father’s escape (cf. 136 ff.). The wife of 
Dicaeopolis views the procession from the roof, in the Acharnians (cf. 262). 
Lastly, in the Clouds, Strepsiades mounts a ladder to set fire to the roof of the 


phrontisterion (cf. 1485 ff.). 


Edward Capps. [ 1891. 


is decidedly in favor of the supposition that there was no stage 
in the Greek theatre of classical times ; that the want of posi- 
tive evidence in favor of a raised stage strengthens this 
supposition ; that the slight evidence which may be adduced 
in favor of an elevated stage can be satisfactorily explained 
away by what seems to me to be a more natural and reason- 
able interpretation ; and that there is no scene in any of the 
extant dramas that could not be readily set without any stage 
whatever. As the archaeological evidence from existing ruins 
in favor of this view is becoming more and more convincing,! 
we may fairly believe that this vexed question will soon reach 
a definite settlement. 


1 For accounts of the recent discoveries at Megalopolis and Eretria see Berl. 
Phil. Woch., 1891, 418, 514, and 673, and Jour. Hell. Stud., 1890, p. 294. 


VIPAT a IMAC YEP ETE 


INDEX 


OF 


SITUATIONS DISCUSSED. 


Acharnians: Dicaeopolis goes into orchestra, 10, n. 1, and 74; closing scene, 17; 
assembly scene, 29; action of chorus prevented, 42; similar action executed, 
47; Dicaeopolis approaches priest in audience, 52, n. 2; inadequacy of a 
“stage” for opening scene, 61; ἀναβαίνειν v. 733, 65; chorus hide from 
actors, 71; roof of proscenium used, 77, n. 2. 

Agamemnon: long silence of Clytemnestra, 23; chariot scene, 28; chorus go 
to aid Agamemnon, 38; they attack Aegisthus, 47; roof of proscenium used, 77, 
n. 2. 

Ajax: closing scene, 15; finding of body of Ajax, 34; chorus called to tent, 37; 
scenic setting, 60. 

Alcestis: chorus join actors in funeral procession, 14. 

Andromache: chorus prevented from entering palace, 41. 

Bacchae: entrance of chorus, 25; importance of chorus, 55- 

Birds: closing scene, 10; actors enter through orchestra, 25; chorus attack 
actors, 47; scenic setting, 60 and 74; inference as to height of stage’ from 
vv. 175 ff. and 263 ff., 69. 

Choephori: entrance of chorus, 8; their exit, 10; chorus called to “ stage,” 39; 
libation scene, 45; hiding of chorus, 71. 

Clouds: actors communicate with audience, 52,n.2; entrance of chorus, 74; roof 
of proscenjum used, 77, n. 2. 

Cyclops: goats driven over “stage,” 12; closing scene, 16; action of chorus 
prevented, 42; scenic setting, 60. 

Ecclesiazusae: chorus enter from houses in background, 9 and 30; chorus 
depart and return with actors, 18 and 20; assembly scene, 29; importance 
of chorus, 55; numbers in opening scene, 58; street scene, 61; καταβαίνειν 
v. 1151, 67; hiding of chorus, 71. 

Electra (Eur.): entrance of chorus, 21; chariot scene, 28; scenic setting, 60; 
inference as to height of “stage” from v. 489, 69; brief withdrawal of 
chorus, 72. 

Electra (Soph.): chorus announce to actors those coming from palace, 56. 

Eumenides: entrance of chorus, 8; closing scene, 13; Orestes tracked by chorus, 
33; numbers in trial scene, 58. 

Frogs: entrance of chorus of Mystae, 9; closing scene, 17; entrance of Xan- 
thias on the ass, 29; unimportance of choruses, 55; necessary confusion 
between earth and Hades, 77. 

Hecabe: Polymnestor pursues Hecabe, 35; action of chorus prevented, 41; 
scenic setting, 60; hiding of chorus, 72. 

79 


80 Index. 


Helen: chorus enter palace, 11 and 52; chorus lay hold of an actor, 48; hasty 
action of chorus, 50. 

Heracleidae: chorus on “ stage,” /8. 

Heracles: chorus approach palace, 40 and 43; enter with Amphitryon, 43 and 


52; brief withdrawal of chorus, 71. 


Hippolytus: chorus go to Phaedra’s aid, 38; distance of chorus from “stage,” 


57; brief withdrawal of chorus, 72. 

Ion: closing scene, 16; chorus enter with actors, 23; chorus prevented from 
entering temple, 42. 

Iphigenia at Aulis: chariot scene, 27 and 52; scenic setting, 60. 

Iphigenia in Tauris: libation scene, 45; chorus approached in supplication, 52, 
n. 2; unimportance of chorus, 55; scenic setting, 60. 

Knights: chorus attack actors, 47; street scenes, 61; ἀναβαίνειν v. 140, 65. 

Lysistrata: entrance of chorus, 9; chorus enter citadel, 11; closing scene, 19; 
resemblance of opening scene to assembly scene, 31, n. 2; fight between the 
choruses, 49; street scene, 61; inference as to height of “stage” from vv. 
289 ff., 68; roof of proscenium used, 77, n. 2. 

Medea: advance of chorus to palace prevented, 41. 

Oedipus Coloneus: Ismene on horseback, 29; search by chorus, 33; chorus lay 
hold of Creon, 48; scenic setting, 60. 

Orestes: the auatnpns τρίβος v. 1251, 29; chorus by the bed of Orestes, 44 and 56. 

Peace: closing scene, 19; communication of actors with audience, 52,n.2; infer- 
ence as to height of “stage” from wv. 564 ff., 69; setting of heaven scene, 75. 

Persians: closing scene, 10 and 50; chariot scene, 28; libation scene, 45. 

Philoctetes: closing scene, 15; entrance of chorus, 24; action of chorus pre- 
vented, 42; scenic setting, 60. 

Phoenissae: clear indication of height, 65; roof of proscenium used, 77, n. 2. 

Plutus: closing scene, 18; entrance of actors through orchestra, 21; unimpor- 
tance of chorus, 55. 

Prometheus: closing scene, 19; scenic setting, 60. 

Rhesus: chorus approach Hector’s tent, 45; chorus seize actors, 47. 

Seven against Thebes: closing scene, 14; chorus flee to the altars, 373 scenic 
setting, 60. 

Suppliants (Aesch.) : closing scene, 15; opening scene, 22; chorus flee to altars, 
36; actor assaults chorus, 47; hasty action of chorus, 50; importance of 
chorus, 55; scenic setting, 60; inference as to height of “stage” from wv. 
713 ff., 70. 

Suppliants (Eur.): opening scene, 8; closing scene, 16; action of chorus pre- 
vented, 42; same action executed, 44; roof of proscenium used, 77, n. 2. 
Thesmophoriazusae: entrance of chorus, 9; assembly scene, 29; search by 

chorus, 32. 

Trachiniae: chorus probably depart with actors, 20, n. 3. 

Troades: entrance of chorus, 8; closing scene, 16; chariot scene, 28; scenic 
setting, 60. 

Wasps: closing scene, 18; chorus attack actors, 47; street scene, 61; ἀναβαίνειν 
V. 1342, 66; καταβαίνειν v. 1514, 67; roof of proscenium used, 77, ἢ. 2. 


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